


The Wolf Within

by napoleonboneaparte



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Anal Sex, Established Relationship, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Outdoor Sex, Post-The Blood of Olympus, Shower Sex, Suicidal Thoughts, Werewolf Jason, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-05-28 19:21:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 21
Words: 58,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6341917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/napoleonboneaparte/pseuds/napoleonboneaparte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A werewolf and a demigod in love. Preposterous. At least that was what Nico would have thought before he became Jason's mate. Friends to lovers, a new love blossoms between the two of them, with Jason devoting his life to Nico. For the first time in so long, Nico can finally be at ease, safe in the arms of his guardian and mate. In front of every silver lining however, there is a dark cloud. When signs emerge that Jason may be becoming more wolf than man and begins to threaten his and everyone's safety, Nico will be put to the test to show how far will he go for the one he holds closest to his heart.</p><p>Based on and inspired by the excellent Razielim's 'You Know You're Best Friends When...'</p><p>Smut in Chapter 1, 3, 19 & 20.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [You Know You're Best Friends When...](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2839928) by [razielim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/razielim/pseuds/razielim). 



The soft, warm beams of the December morning sun peeked through a gap between the dark scarlet curtains of Cabin Thirteen and settled on the son of Hades’ face. Nico stirred from his slumber. Now that he had settled down in Camp Half-Blood, he was prone to oversleeping, sometimes all the way into the afternoon. Perhaps his body was demanding compensation for the torturous strain that it had gone through in the past years. The answer was relatively simple though; his nights of passion with Jason were intensely exhausting affairs, though definitely satisfying ones.

  
Jason certainly did have a voracious appetite, both for food and for sex. It was not really his fault though; he was a werewolf after all. It was certainly a strange thing, one that was unheard of. A demigod dating a werewolf. A few months back, such a pairing would be dismissed as something even an insanely horny Aphrodite camper would deem preposterous. After all, werewolves were the murderous minions of Lycaon, a sworn enemy of the gods. Yet, it had been five months, a fortnight and three days since Jason and Nico had started dating and their relationship was still going strong.

  
When it was revealed to all that Jason had received the curse of the werewolf through a bite, he was greeted with suspicion and outright hostility from the campers. Swords were unsheathed and spears were lowered. Yet, Nico never did fear Jason. In fact, with Hazel’s encouragement, he stood up for Jason and supported him against the fears and prejudice of some of the campers. After all, Jason was Nico’s best friend. When Cupid had cleaved the truth out of Nico in Croatia, Jason did not judge him but rather helped and encouraged him. Nico was simply returning the favour. Jason was spared and his warm feelings toward Nico started to turn romantic.

  
Their amicable relationship certainly did take a strange turn of events when Jason first went into heat. That was most certainly one of the most bizarre yet memorable nights in Nico’s life. After all, it was the night that he had lost his virginity. Not only that, he lost it when Jason in his werewolf form had knotted him, an experience that no one on earth could ever boast of, not that anyone would crow about it anyway. Aside the physical aspect, it was also a major event in Nico’s love life. Albeit unintentionally, Jason had let slip that he had fallen in love with Nico. It was one thing for Nico to have a crush on Percy, but to find out that Jason had romantic feelings for him was a whole new beast. In the end, Nico decided that Jason deserved a chance at love and thus began a new stage in their relationship.

  
Nico’s chest felt incredibly hot as he realised that he was laying on something hard and warm. Jason’s sculpted chest heaved with each breath he took. If there was one thing that Nico had learnt through sharing his bed with Jason, he could sleep soundly through an artillery barrage. He did not stir in the slightest when Nico lifted his head off Jason’s ripped stomach and knelt on the bed. Jason had probably fallen asleep while waiting for his knot to recede. He was still in his werewolf form, his chest scantily furry, his fangs and claws still exposed and his canine ears showing.

  
Nico felt a little guilty ogling at Jason’s body. It was very hard to look away from what Nico saw as the embodiment of male beauty. Jason’s figure was one that an Abercrombie and Fitch underwear model would die for. He had the most amazing chest, broad, sturdy, sculpted with obvious muscle. In his werewolf form, Jason’s smooth skin was stretched even tighter over his hard and firm muscles. Even in his sleep, his abs remained defined, tempting Nico to trail his fingers over them. There was a reason why before they found out his secret, the girls (and some guys) fell head over heels for him. In Nico’s mind however, Jason’s good looks were not the only qualities of his that Nico found attractive.

Ever since becoming a werewolf, Jason seemed to have two differing personalities, depending on what form he was in at the moment. In his human form, he was a natural-born leader, with an inborn charisma and a strong degree of confidence in both himself and his friends. He could be serious and rigid at times, but Nico knew better than to label him a wet blanket, for behind the straight face, was a warm and caring lover. Nico found it amusing, that Jason, whose assertive and authoritative voice commanded people around, was soft-spoken and as gentle as a kitten when he was alone with Nico. It was a side of Jason that people, even his friends, Hazel and Frank included, rarely saw. It was a side that Nico loved to see.

In his werewolf form however, Jason took on a more animalistic character. It had taken him some time but Jason had ultimately embraced this wilder side of him whenever it made an appearance. In any case, Jason normally kept the wolf in the bag unless he needed to or wanted to. He was infinitely stronger in his werewolf form, ripping apart an empousa with effortless ease. His temper was also on a far shorter leash. Nico had already stepped in and broken up several fights that Jason got into with the Ares campers. Like his human side though, Jason was meek and obedient whenever Nico was around. In addition to being wilder and more carefree, he was also a lot more playful and sweet.

  
Nico leaned in and planted a loving kiss on his still sleeping boyfriend’s lips. Jason stirred but did not awake. A vase of brilliantly coloured wildflowers sat on the mahogany bedside table, cheering up the relatively gloomy interior of Cabin Thirteen. During the camp’s latest Capture the Flag game, Jason and Nico had been placed on opposing teams. A werewolf Jason ambushed Nico by leaping onto him and pinning him to the ground, all while clenching stalks of wildflowers between his teeth. Nico had no idea whether to slap him or to kiss him. He did both.

Careful not to wake Jason, Nico slipped out of bed before creeping into the bathroom attached to his cabin. As he stood at the basin, furiously brushing his teeth, Nico took note of his reflection in the mirror. His hair was characteristically messy; looking like a harpy had tried to make a nest in it. His pale olive complexion had finally taken on a slight tan, a result of more outdoor work and play on his part. A quick sniff under his arm was enough to make him crinkle his nose in disgust. Sex, for all the pleasure it brought, certainly was one heck of a workout in itself. After rinsing his mouth, he stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

The steady stream of hot water felt good running down his face and body. Nico closed his eyes and relaxed as he felt the water washing away the salt of his sweat that stubbornly clung onto his skin. In the midst of the heat and steam, Nico felt a familiar set of claws digging lightly into the skin of his abdomen. “I see you’ve started without me,” Jason seductively whispered into Nico’s ear.

  
“You were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.” Nico turned to face his boyfriend, but found himself locking lips with Jason. Chuckling at Nico’s surprise, Jason wasted no time slipping his long, slick wolf tongue into his boyfriend’s mouth before pulling him closer so that their naked bodies pressed against each other under the steady jet of hot water. Nico could feel his length slowly hardening when he felt Jason’s hard cock throbbing against his thigh. Jason was certainly a lot friskier in his wolf form, though not to say that the human side of Jason was incapable of horny episodes.

  
“Jason, could you please change back?” Nico had no problem showering with Jason in his werewolf form, but he wanted to see the more human side of Jason. Without a word more, Jason willed the wolf to retreat back to its den. His eyes remained focused on Nico’s as he drew in a deep, calming breath. Nico watched as Jason’s ears reverted to their normal human form and his canine teeth receded into his gums. The hair and claws also retracted. His length started to lose its tapered head. With a final groan, his glowing eyes slowly shifted back to their normal lightning blue until he was fully human again.

  
“It still hurts?” Nico took hold of Jason’s waist as he blinked, slightly dazed due to his transformation.

  
“Yes,” answered Jason. He normally shrugged it off when people asked him, but he told the truth to Nico. Whenever he transformed into either form, it felt like he was being burnt alive for a few seconds in a bath of burning gasoline. Nico made it a point not to ask Jason to transform but Jason insisted that he could take the pain. He lowered his head and looked directly at Nico with concerned, guilty eyes.

  
“Was I rough last night?”

  
“A little. But I liked it.” 

“Well, aren’t you a dirty boy?” The shy smile on Nico’s face wiped away the worry that was clouding Jason’s mind. He always had the deathly fear that he would lose control of himself and hurt Nico when in his feral state. Lathering a bar of soap with water, he rubbed it over Nico’s bare chest. He smirked when he felt Nico shivering slightly under his touch. Jason scrubbed every inch of Nico clean, massaging him where he could. When he reached Nico’s still erect cock, he could not help but give the head a quick lick, earning a throaty moan from Nico. He was only teasing however, as he stood up and shampooed Nico’s hair, massaging his scalp with firm and unwavering strokes. Nico stood still, taking in deep, relaxing breaths while letting Jason gently pamper him. For a big and brawny werewolf, Jason really held back his strength when he was with Nico. One could even say that he was a lion trying to be a lamb.

Jason slowly rinsed the suds out of Nico’s hair, watching the bubbles that ran down his body, hugging every small curve and bump, before bursting upon contact with the shower floor. With Nico finally clean, Jason leaned down and kissed him, stroking his wet inky black locks of hair while he did. Nico responded by being adventurous and pushed his tongue into Jason’s mouth, letting out a quiet moan. 

“Turn around,” ordered Jason. He wanted a reward and he just had one thing in his mind.

Rather willingly, Nico pushed himself against the wall of the shower before propping his ass out, wiggling it mischievously. With a few strokes, Jason’s cock was truly hardened and fully erect. Nico shuddered when he felt Jason’s impressive length wedged between his ass cheeks. It felt weird admitting it but he preferred getting fucked by Jason in his wolf form due to his tapered cock which slipped in a lot easier. The only downside was that they had to wait an hour or two for Jason’s knot to recede before pulling it out. He did not complain however, knowing the pain that Jason had to go through each time he shifted.

Nico could feel the heat radiating from Jason’s cock that was slick with lube. He turned his head and nodded, signalling to Jason that he was ready. Jason rested his chin on Nico’s wet shoulder. He softly murmured, “If I hurt you, tell me and I’ll stop.” 

His hand reached up to caress Jason’s face. Nico gently stroke his firm cheek. “Jason, I’ll be okay. Just relax.”

With those assuring words, Jason bit his lip and slowly began to push in. Despite having slicked up his cock, it still took a while to push through the tight ring of muscle. Only an inch or two had gone in when he brought himself to a pause upon seeing Nico wincing in pain, but just as he was about to pull out, Nico softly whined, “No. Don’t stop. Please.”

Nico’s wish was Jason’s command. With his cock throbbing incessantly, Jason continued easing himself into Nico’s tight and warm tunnel, fitting in about three inches before pulling out all but the very tip. He then pushed back in, this time adding another inch to his efforts. Throughout his ministrations, he held on firmly to Nico’s arms, feeling every slight shudder, ghosting his fingers over the scars that blemished Nico’s shoulder. He had nothing to do with inflicting them, but the fact that they came from a werewolf like himself made him wonder whether he could ever forgive himself if he ever hurt Nico. Sweeping aside the tormenting thought, he started to kiss Nico’s shoulder seductively to take his mind off the pain. 

Just as Jason began to make the final push, he nibbled and tugged at the soft skin of Nico’s neck, to be rewarded with a hungry moan. Jason had to let out a grunt for after nearly a minute of agony, all his nine inches were deep inside of Nico. To be encased in his lover’s tight and warm body was certainly a nirvanic experience. Nico was Jason’s mate and he wanted to enjoy Nico as much as desired. On the receiving end, Nico was grateful that Jason was buried balls-deep inside of him; he felt that he could take no more. For a moment, Jason stood motionless, letting Nico adjust and make himself comfortable before doing anything else. After an unbearable wait, Jason finally felt Nico bucking onto him. He was good to go. 

Inch by inch, Jason started to pull out of Nico, before pushing back all the way in. His thrusts started off soft and shallow, taking his time to avoid hurting Nico. Nico’s eyes remained closed, with his body pressed against the wall and pinned under Jason. Then, Nico cried out, gritting his teeth.

Immediately, Jason stopped, terrified that he may have hurt Nico. He tried pulling out, but Nico reached back and gripped his wrist. “Jason, hit that spot again, please.” Tears were in Nico’s eyes as he begged Jason to continue his efforts. Jason smirked. He had found the spot inside Nico that made him see stars and he was determined to make Nico see an entire galaxy that morning.

There was no more time for gentleness. Nico wanted it rough and dirty, and he was going to get it that way. Jason gripped onto Nico’s hip and began pistoning away. One of the benefits of being a werewolf was his enhanced stamina, and Jason could pound into Nico at a blurring speed, which he did. He knew exactly where to hit and his aim hit the mark consistently. Nico was a blabbering mess, incapable of stringing together a coherent sentence as wave after wave of pleasure struck him, causing him to shake and shiver. The only three words that remained in his vocabulary seemed to be, ‘faster’, ‘harder’ and ‘deeper’. 

“Oh, gods,” moaned Nico as he felt drops of precum coating his insides. He shook violently when he felt Jason grabbing his cock and pumping it.

With each moan and cry that the two lovers made, Jason seemed to pick up speed, thrusting in and out of Nico relentlessly. It certainly felt remarkable, to be encased in Nico’s tight and warm body. The fact that Nico was his mate for life meant that Jason was willing and dedicated to keeping him safe from harm. Their lives had been entwined together by the Fates that one night, with Jason knotting Nico and marking him as his mate. Jason was ready to let Nico walk out of his life if he wished to, but he did not. Instead, he stayed and Jason was content with spending the rest of his life with him. It was a slight shame that Nico could not carry his puppies, but he could live with it. All that mattered for the moment was Nico’s pleasure.

Jason felt a familiar burning feeling travelling up his spine. His wolfish side was howling with ecstasy and wanted to take Nico for himself. Not if he had anything to say about it, Jason thought angrily to himself. He growled as he ran his hand across Nico’s lean torso, feeling the muscles that were somewhat defined, but to a lesser degree than his own. Nico was arching his back, attempting to intensify the glorious sensations that were wracking his body. His lean figure seemed to perfectly fit Jason, two puzzles pieces interlocking with each other. Jason tightened his grip on his hips as he started hammering into him at an inhuman speed, brushing against the spot with each thrust.

“Jason, I – I’m...” Nico stammered uncontrollably as his release grew imminent. 

“Nico.” All that Jason could think of that very moment was the name of his mate. Each and every thought, each and every sense, Nico occupied and filled. With one final thrust, Jason slammed his cock into Nico and hit that spot dead on. His hand was a blur pumping Nico’s cock, and in a second, Nico’s mouth hung wide open in a silent scream as he shot white milky ribbons of cum onto the shower wall. Some of his release coated Jason’s hand. 

With Nico’s grasp tightening on Jason’s cock, Jason was finally pushed over the edge. He could feel every inch of his insides. Jason held Nico close against him as he filled his mate with his seed. Deep pants escaped his mouth, and he almost let out an instinctive howl. Instead, he collapsed forward onto Nico’s back. While regaining his breath, Jason placed a series of passionate kisses on Nico’s back. 

After a while, he realised he still was encased in Nico and pulled out, much to Nico’s dismay. Nico turned around to face his boyfriend. Jason’s cock was lubed-up with his own cum and it strangely looked delicious to Nico. Noticing him staring, Jason nonchalantly lifted his cum-stained fingers to his lips and sucked greedily. “You taste good,” he chuckled. 

“Right...” Nico rolled his eyes as he leaned against the shower wall. “I really need to take a nap, and another shower.”

Jason shook with hearty laughter before wrapping his arms around Nico and kissing him lovingly on the lips, letting him have a taste of himself. Nico could not help making a face. Maybe Jason enjoyed the taste but he did not. Then again, Jason was a werewolf, so perhaps his sense of taste was different.

“But we fucked in the shower, so doesn’t it mean we are still clean?”

“Jason, you smell like a dog.”

The werewolf’s lightning blue eyes immediately crinkled with amusement. “You do know I am a werewolf, right?”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know that!” Nico’s voice dripped with friendly sarcasm as he took up the soap bar. “Turn around.” 

Jason smiled before following his mate’s orders, letting him wash him clean without a single complaint. He could really do with this more often.


	2. Chapter 2

Under his heavy helmet, several beads of sweat trickled down Nico’s forehead. Heavy pants escaped him as he gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow. He could feel the chill of the cold winter air on his skin. He was not in a good mood, his clothes were drenched with sweat and his body was close to exhaustion. Yet, for all his frustration, his resolve was resolute and surrender was out of the question. He was the son of Hades, the Ghost King. He did not fear the dead or the darkness, he embraced both.Tightening his grip around the hilt of his Stygian iron sword, he let out a cry of rage and like a bull that saw red, he charged toward Jason with his sword raised high.

  
Their blades met high in the air with a thunderous clash that resonated through the air. Jason was surprised at the sudden amount of ferocity that Nico channelled into his attack that it nearly slipped his mind to parry the blade. After the initial shock however, Jason held his ground and blocked the rain of blows that Nico brought down on him. He knew Nico practised a highly aggressive form of swordplay, denying his opponents time and space to react and tiring them with his constant attacks. He was left somewhat vulnerable on his defensive side during his frenzies of slashing and thrusting but at that very moment, Jason did have to admit that he was somewhat afraid that Nico was getting a little too into it and might end up stabbing Jason in the face.

“Balance, my boy, balance!” Chiron stood on the side lines, watching his two campers battle it out in the middle of the arena. He seemed relatively cosy in contrast to them, sipping a mug of cocoa while garbed in a red winter coat. “Offense is the best defence, yes, but maintaining a good defence is vital to any young demigod’s survival in a fight.”

“Yes, Chiron,” Nico muttered through clenched teeth. He did listen however and after launching a series of slashes, he went on the defensive and let Jason take the fight to him. After his violent but futile efforts, he finally broke Jason’s defence when he slightly nicked Jason’s shoulder, leaving a small bloody cut. Jason did not seem to be in pain though, most likely due to his werewolf rapid healing. 

“I’ll leave you two alone to complete your training session. I have some business to attend to with Mr. D. Do try throwing in your abilities in your attacks.” 

As soon as the old centaur trotted out of sight, Jason turned to face his mate and grinned cheerfully. “Not too bad, my boy.” 

“I’m not ‘your boy’,” said Nico, albeit annoyed. “And for the record, I was born far earlier than you, which means I’m older than you and I should be calling you, ‘boy’.” 

“So, you’re a 100-year-old man dating a 17-year-old boy. Sounds legit.”

Nico rolled his eyes and sighed. “If you are going to say that I’m Edward and you’re Bella, I’m going to kill you. And I did kind of stop aging in the Lotus Hotel and Casino…”

“Which means I’m still older and I can call you, ‘boy’.” Jason pressed his forehead against the cold metal of Nico’s helmet, toting a smug smile of victory.

Nico groaned. Knowing Jason, he would probably end up calling him ‘boy’ for the next few weeks, maybe into the following year. It was a harmless name though, and Nico had been called many other unsavoury names in the past, so he was not too hung up about it. He lifted his eyes and looked into Jason’s still human eyes. Their lightning blue hue was very striking, and fitted him well. To a stranger, they made Jason seem cold and aloof, but being his mate, Nico knew that he was a lot more than that. “Do you want to go another round?”

Jason’s eyes lit up, metaphorically. “Sure thing.” He drew his gladius and wielded it with his right arm. “Come and get some.”

Nico lifted the helmet off his head and threw it to the ground. It landed with a soft thud on the thin layer of snowy sand. The helmet was a little too heavy for his head and while he would definitely choose to wear one in an actual battle, he felt badly burdened and weighed down wearing one in the training arena. With that done, Nico drew his sword and turned to face his boyfriend, only to find himself looking through thin air.

Looking to his left, looking to his right and looking behind him, Nico saw no sign of Jason. The only thing that proved that he had there practicing his swordplay skills with Nico was the heavy footprints that he had left in the snow. Nico noticed Jason’s boots embedded in the snow. He looked around again to confirm that his boyfriend was not on the side lines or in the rows of seats. He looked up, despite the fact that Jason had lost his flight capabilities due to the bite.It was beyond the realm of possibility that Jason could vanish into thin air this quickly. Nico was baffled by where Jason had disappeared to when he felt something thundering toward his back, something fast. And big.

Acting practically on impulse and possibly driven by Chiron’s advice, Nico bent the earth to his will and within a second, a towering mound of earth shot out of the ground. He had intended to intercept or slow down whatever was heading toward him. What he did not intend was launching a transformed Jason several feet into the air. His mouth hung open in shock and growing sense of horror started to creep across his face when Jason plummeted to the ground and landed in a dreadful crash. A groan was heard before Jason fell still. “Jason!”

On the verge of a major panic attack, Nico scurried over to his boyfriend who laid face down in the snow. He turned Jason on his back and was close to tearing up when he saw that his eyes were closed and no breath escaped his slightly parted lips. It became rather evident that he needed help, perhaps some medical assistance and a lot of ambrosia. Nico was getting on his knees and turning to call for help when Jason’s eyes shot open. A low wolfish snarl sent chills down Nico’s spine.

It happened so quickly that Nico could not even process what was happening let alone react appropriately. Jason lunged up at him and threw him to the ground, clawed hand gripping him by the throat. Sheer terror flashed across Nico’s pale face as Jason growled fiercely at him, baring his razor sharp fangs and pressing his knee into Nico’s chest, pinning him down. “Jason?” called Nico in a quiet whisper. Jason did not seem to respond to his name. His lightning blue eyes had taken on a more sinister glow and they seemed to be full of menace and promised Nico nothing but pain. Nico started reaching for his sword that laid just within his grasp. 

He did not know what was going on with Jason but his instincts screamed “Danger!” Though he did not want to hurt his boyfriend, he did not intend to get hurt himself. Just as his fingertips grazed the hilt of his blade, a clawed hand clenched his wrist. Jason glowered menacingly at Nico before pushing his face closer to Nico’s. He certainly appeared murderous and was not afraid of showing it. Nico had seen this face on the many monsters he had slain including Lycaon and his pack. It started to dawn upon him that Jason might indeed have lost control of his feral side. Slobber leached from Jason’s exposed gleaming ivory fangs and a hostile growl thundered. That very moment, Nico believed and had no doubt that Jason, his best friend who had taken him as his mate, was about to kill him.

Then, Jason licked Nico’s face. His long slick wolf tongue began sweeping over Nico’s face, leaving him covered with a layer of drool and saliva. At first, Nico simply stared at his boyfriend, wide-eyed and in shock. It took some time for him to catch on what was happening. His werewolf boyfriend who was just about to kill him was drooling on him and turning his face into a wet sticky mess. He loved his wolf. The intimidating look that Jason had worn was nothing but a blatant sham. Jason’s eyes lit up with amusement as his mate started to giggle under the ticklish sensation that Jason’s tongue induced on his skin. He was no Broadway thespian but he certainly could put on a performance.

“Stop it! It tickles!” Nico thrashed around trying to push his boyfriend off him, but Jason simply sat on him and refused to let him go.

“You really thought I was going to kill you?”

Nico laughed as Jason started to moisten the tip of his nose. “You looked like it. And what’s with you running off instead of training?”

“Well, I was training you to prepare for werewolf attacks,” Jason said as he stopped licking his mate’s face to look at him with a wolfish grin. “And from the looks of it, the Big Bad Wolf has devoured poor Little Red Riding Hood.”

Nico snorted. “I could have easily shadow-travelled and dropped you in the Styx.” 

“But you didn’t, so I win.”

“Liar,” Nico said, with a smile, as he lifted his head and planted a loving kiss on Jason’s lips. He did not notice but Jason’s ears immediately perked up like a dog when instead of breaking the kiss, he deepened it. Jason’s tongue was left free to explore his mate’s mouth and he took the opportunity to do so. The heat of his body chased away the cold that surrounded them. They were fortunate that no one saw them there that moment, making out in the centre of the arena. Jason may be a very frisky person, but Nico knew from his eyes alone, those beautiful eyes, that he did love him deeply. Their lovemaking sessions were not just for the pleasure and thrills, it was also a way for Jason to express the feelings he had for his chosen mate. 

“So, what are you doing afterwards?” If Jason had a tail, he would have been wagging it excitedly.

“Will’s teaching me how to run things in the infirmary. I should be learning how to patch up scratch wounds.” Will Solace was one of Nico’s close friends, having convinced him to settle down in Camp Half-Blood. He had been showing Nico the ropes about healing and cures. 

“And you’re sure you’re doing nothing else?” He wiggled his brows as a mischievous grin exposed his sharp canines.

“What are you implying? I’m cheating on you with him? Let me remind you that you’re the one always looking for sex.”

“I didn’t say that,” Jason chortled. He gave a final peck on Nico’s nose and released him. “You are free tonight, right?” 

“I am.”

“Then, can we go out into the city? Just for tonight?” asked Jason with his puppy-dog eyes.

Nico rolled his eyes but gave in. Standing on his toes to scratch the back of Jason’s ear, he said, “Fine. But we’ll be eating dinner here before we go. I’m a little tight on cash now.”

Jason nuzzled Nico’s neck, letting him feel his hot breath on his skin. “Thanks.”

* * *

  
“Where do you want to go?” Nico zipped up his black leather hoodie, a parting gift from Reyna. He then tossed Jason his dark purple jacket. The night was cold and it would not do to stand around without an extra layer of clothing. Jason had some trouble zipping up his jacket; the nylon material was stuck in the teeth. Shaking his head at his boyfriend’s predicament, Nico carefully picked away the cloth and managed to free the zipper. “So, where to?”

  
“Just Times Square. You’re up for a movie?”

Nico shrugged. “Depends on what movie.”

“Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.”

“Sounds good enough.” He took hold of Jason’s hand and strolled out of the door. 

Jason was calculating the cab fee when he realised that Nico was not heading toward the entrance of the camp and was instead walking casually toward a nearby oak tree. For a moment, he was somewhat baffled before he remembered that Nico had transported a forty-foot statue of Athena all the way from Greece to the camp through shadow travel. Percy had once described shadow travelling to him as “going so fast that it feels like your face is peeling off." 

“Don’t let go,” Nico sternly warned. “If you get lost in the shadows, you may end up getting lost forever.”

“Sounds lovely. Can’t we just take a cab?” Jason chuckled but tightened his hand around Nico’s. With one final encouraging look, the two stepped forward and vanished into the cold darkness of the night.

The darkness that surrounded Jason seemed to suck the air out of his lungs. He could not find the words to describe it but he felt like he was walking blindfolded in a dark room floating through the vast blank emptiness of space. Nico’s warm hand guided him and he walked briskly through what was akin to a corridor of pure darkness. The winter cold had nothing on the bitter coldness that this darkness contained. His heightened senses allowed him to hear distant sounds, otherworldly sounds that actually made his pulse quicken against his will. He was not easily frightened. He had after all, personally fought Titans and Giants. However, he somehow knew that to be lost in this void of empty darkness would be a fate worse than death. To have one’s sanity and being consumed and lost in the darkness. After what felt like an eternity, the darkness finally parted and Jason found him standing beside Nico in a dimly lit commercial alley, the stench and constant honking confirming that they were in the Big Apple. He would have breathed a sigh of relief if not for the barrel of a gun pointed right at him and Nico. 

“Where the fuck did you two freaks come from?” A heavyset man, perhaps in his late thirties, glared at both Jason and Nico as he held a gun next to the head of a young girl, a fast-food worker judging by her attire, probably on her way home from work. Her phone, purse and cards laid strewn on the ground, along with a few crumpled dollar notes. For a brief moment, Jason thought he was witnessing a typical mugging but his face immediately darkened when he saw the girl’s tearful eyes that were desperately pleading for help. The buttons that had been torn off her shirt informed him what was really going on. 

He took a step forward, determined to deal with the scum himself when Nico blocked him with his arm and held him back. Jason shot an annoyed glance at Nico but Nico’s face silently told him that he had something up his sleeve. 

“You’re looking for trouble or what?” The man tightened his grip around his unfortunate victim’s neck as he pointed his gun at Jason and Nico. His finger remained on the trigger as his eyes darted back and forth between the two demigods. As far as Jason knew, demigods were definitely vulnerable to gunshots. 

“We just made a wrong turn and we’re going to walk away,” said Nico as he raised his arms and started to walk in the opposite direction away from the gunman. Jason gritted his teeth but followed suit, bristling with anger as the girl whimpered and begged them not to go. He wanted to let loose his wolf and rip the bastard into pieces but Nico glared at him, warning him not to.

“Are we not going to help?” he hissed as they started to turn around the corner.

Nico rolled his eyes. “Never said we weren’t. Change.”

* * *

“Take it off, bitch!” The criminal screamed as he prodded his victim with the barrel of his gun.

“No, please! Just take the money and go!” The girl was horrified that this was actually happening to her. She had read stories in the papers and online about unfortunate people getting hurt while taking shortcuts to the subway. It never occurred to her that this fate would befall her. To be threatened at gunpoint was terrible enough but to be violated was definitely worse. Her tearful appeals seemed to be fall on deaf ears as he slapped the side of the gun against the side of her face and forced her into a pile of trash bags.

The man was unzipping his pants when he suddenly felt long, sharp claws digging into his shoulder. An animalistic growl echoed off the walls of the alley. Immediately, he turned around, attempting to throw a blow at his assailant when he was lifted into the air and slammed against a trash bin. A hulking figure dressed in a familiar-looking jacket stormed toward him, his face well concealed by his hoodie. The man took a double take when he saw that the figure’s eyes were glowing a menacing blue.

He tried to bring his gun to bear but Jason was faster, swiping the gun out of his hand and throwing it onto the ground. The man desperately attempted to land a blow on Jason but he easily caught the thug’s fist mid-air, crushing it hard until he started to scream in pain. Jason gripped him by his throat and pushed him up against the wall. He let him feel the sharp claws that were pricking his skin and drawing blood. Jason may have not been a Mist manipulator but he learned enough from Thalia, Hazel and Chiron to show the brute what he wanted him to see. An inhuman face shrouded in darkness, with his long, razor-sharp teeth glimmering in the dim light, flared nostrils and glowing eyes that blazed murderously. 

“What are you?”

“A freak.” Resisting his urge to crush the man’s neck into a bloody pulp, he instead threw him aside like a ragdoll onto the ground. Jason reared back and let loose a deafening roar, a final warning to the man. If not for Nico telling him not to kill him, he would have bashed the man’s brains onto the wall. With a wail of terror, the man picked himself and ran as fast as his feet could take him, screaming about demons in the alley. Sooner or later, he would end up in a psych ward, Jason mused to himself.

Nico picked up the girl’s belongings and handed it back to her. Aside from a few scratches and bruises in addition to the sheer shock of what just happened, she was unhurt. She was lost for words however at the appearance of her two saviours, who had seemed to materialise from the shadows. Perhaps they were really her guardian angels, appearing in her greatest time of need. The display of brute strength on Jason’s part also left her astonished. It was no wonder that the man fled with his tail tucked between his legs, though she had no knowledge of what he had actually seen.

“Call the police. Tell them what happened. Stay safe.” Nico helped her to her feet and smiled. He took Jason’s hand and started to walk away.

“Wait!” The girl ran up to them, tears welling up in her eyes as she pecked them both on the cheek. “Thank you.” 

Jason nodded and led Nico away. As soon as they approached the main street, Nico stopped Jason. He did and as he turned to see what the problem was, he suddenly found his lips brushing against Nico’s. “That was very brave of you, Wolfman,” Nico whispered softly.

Jason chuckled. “Well, you did half the work too, Ghost King.” He cupped Nico’s face and brushed his thumbs against his cheekbones. “We could always do more stuff like this.”

“Right...and what are you going to tell Chiron when our faces are on the headlines?”

“Well, sucks to be us then. Come on, I think they have a 9.15 show tonight.” Planting a quick passionate kiss on Nico’s lips, the two demigods disappeared into the theatre, eager to watch Tom Cruise saving the world with big guns and explosions on the big screen.

* * *

“So, he is with him? Never thought that they would end up a couple.”

“Well, they are the first openly gay couple in the current generation of campers. Might be more in the closet, but we don’t know.”

“Doesn’t matter. Is everything prepared?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I hope it hurts. A lot.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

First, their t-shirts went. Then so did their pants. After several minutes of making out, their underwear joined the growing pile of clothes that laid discarded beside their bed. A large bemused smirk was drawn on Jason’s face as he slowly and seductively flexed his taut muscles, putting on an arousing display for Nico. He knew that his efforts were not in vain, as testified by Nico's obvious hard-on. It was incredibly difficult for Nico to look away, and why should he? He had been intimate with Jason countless times; he knew every bump and crevice on Jason’s body that made the werewolf shiver and whimper. Instead of worrying over the details, Nico sat back and enjoyed the show, ogling the eye candy that stood before him as naked as the day he was born.

Despite knowing that he had appearances to uphold, Nico could not resist the urge to drool at the sight of Jason’s perfectly rippled stomach. If Hades ever saw his son in this state, he would probably have ended up grounding Nico for the next millennium and turned Jason into a chihuahua. Almost as if he knew what was in Nico’s mind, Jason strolled toward him before gently taking Nico’s hand and placing it on his muscles. Nico nervously skimmed his fingers over Jason’s muscle-bound abdomen, noticing the flinch that they gave under his touch. Each muscle was taut, hard, kissable. Needing to get things going, Nico lifted his head, silently beckoning Jason to lean down and give him the sweet kisses he was an expert at. Just as Jason was about to do so, he winced, groaned and doubled over in pain.

“Jason!” Nico hated feeling helpless, unable to take away the pain that tormented his boyfriend. Jason was in heat and he was being overtaken with the urgent need to mate with Nico. He needed Nico, needed to be in him. Trying not to be a mere bystander, Nico tried to get on his feet, perhaps to support and comfort Jason, but was promptly pushed back down onto their bed.

“No,” Jason hissed through his now-exposed fangs. “I can take it.”

Another wave of pain struck Jason, causing him to snarl uncontrollably. It felt like he was taking a bath in red-hot molten iron. His pain-hazed mind failed to notice the fact that he was gripping Nico’s shoulders in an iron vice, refusing to release him even as his claws began to show themselves. After a minute of teeth-gritting snarls, the pain finally ebbed and dissipated. Jason was drenched with sweat and panting hard. He took some time to recover from the ordeal.

“Sorry about that,” he chuckled apologetically. “I really didn’t mean to...”

Jason’s eyes widened when he realised that his grip on Nico’s shoulder remained tight. Nico winced painfully as Jason’s claws dug into his skin, keeping his silence even after they broke his skin. He had suffered worse after all. He looked up at his mortified boyfriend, putting on a brave face as he shot him a bemused smile. “Seriously?”

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” Jason was flipping into panic mode but he still managed to carefully removing his claws from Nico’s skin. The wounds were neither serious nor deep, but the small trickle of blood flowing down Nico’s arm immediately resulted in Jason being bombarded with guilty pangs.

“I’ll go get Solace. You need help.”

“Why? It’s not serious.”

“You’re bleeding!” Jason pointed out, rather loathing himself for what he had done to Nico. “I need to –“ He was interrupted by Nico’s lips brushing gently against his, the touch featherlight.

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt. And I think it’s you who needs help.” As he spoke, he reached out and grasped Jason’s impressive length, slightly deflated after the scare but slowly hardening under Nico’s touch. Jason could not help letting out an appreciative growl when Nico gave his cock a tight stroke. His worries were still plaguing his mind though, even as he pulled Nico closer to him and kissed him lovingly.

“You are sure you are okay?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Jason...”

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’m still sorry about this, okay?” Jason licked his mate’s wounds, sliding his long tongue across the broken skin on Nico’s shoulder. He knew it would sting a little but since he inflicted the wound, he would help to clean and perhaps, heal it a little quicker. It smarted for a bit but after a while, Nico noticed that his wounds were already closing. He had little time to think though as he found himself clinging onto Jason, with his thighs wrapped around Jason’s firm waist and his two arms around the werewolf’s neck.

With his back against the wall and his two feet off the ground, Nico enjoyed Jason’s lips covering his face with a series of comforting kisses. With his glowing electric blue eyes gazing into Nico’s, Jason slowly slid his long fingers up the curve of his mate’s hair, his pearly white fangs showing as he curled Nico’s inky black locks behind his ear. In whichever form he was in, Jason’s eyes retained the same beauty that Nico loved and appreciated. He thought of a quote he had seen while flipping through a book, “the eyes are the mirror of the soul.” He could not help but wonder what this meant for Jason. Deep in his thoughts, Nico did not realise that Jason was tilting his head, slightly puzzled at why Nico seemed so pensive during such an intimate moment.

Nico’s train of thought was temporarily disrupted when Jason nuzzled his neck. Jason’s eyes were wide open, silently begging for a response from Nico. He whined in delight when to his surprise, Nico gently nuzzled back. After a little more nuzzling, Jason turned his attention to Nico’s neck, where his skin was soft and smooth. His mouth found the softness of Nico’s neck and expertly nibbled the side of it. Despite his sharp fangs, he never broke the skin, merely leaving harmless marks that disappeared after a while. With each nip and tuck, a light shudder rippled through the entirety of Nico’s body, like a pebble thrown into a pond.

The cabin would have been shrouded in darkness if not for the dim cerulean glow of Jason’s eyes. Those eyes, as blue as a summer morning sky, made Nico feel safe and secure. Jason was his guardian, his mate and his lover. Even when they were not together, Nico could feel Jason’s eyes boring into his back and sure enough, where he turned in his direction, he would catch Jason staring at him concernedly and longingly. It was quite intriguing and inherently fascinating that those eyes, full of gentleness and love, could be filled with rage and undying hatred if Nico was threatened in any way. It would be a literal death wish for anyone to be on Jason’s bad side. Nico did not fear him, however. He had loved Jason as a friend, and now, he was willing to love him as his mate.

The fact that Jason had stopped his nibbling did not escape Nico’s attention. Jason’s eyes were closed, his chest heaving with deep long breaths, as though he was inhaling the aroma of the most delectable ambrosia on Mount Olympus. Nico could feel the hot slick tip of Jason’s arousal poking between his ass cheeks. Even there, he could feel the hardness throb and pulsate with the audible beat of Jason’s heart. It was somewhat baffling to Nico why Jason was taking his time. Nico watched Jason for a while, observing his slightly furry chest rise and fall with each breath he took.

“Jason?”

“Hmm?” Jason’s eyes slowly opened and a small smile came over to his lips.

“What are you doing?”

Jason blinked, laughed and patted Nico’s back. “Just...taking in your scent.”

“Oh,” said Nico, raising a brow. “So, what do I smell like?”

Closing his eyes again and taking in a breath, Jason answered, “Fresh flowers. Incense. Scented candles.”

“So, I smell like death.”

“You smell like you.” He pressed his forehead against Nico’s and gazed into his eyes, letting Nico see all the love and passion they held for him. “And I like you.”

Jason paused for a moment. “Love. I love you,” he corrected. He then tilted his head and leaned in for another kiss. Nico shivered in anticipation when he felt Jason’s hot breath rippling across his skin. For a moment, he seemed to forget how to breathe; his chest felt tight and empty, like the air had been knocked out of him. Jason’s lips were soft and warm, in contrast to the razor-sharp fangs they concealed. His long tongue begged for permission to enter and explore Nico’s mouth, permission that was granted. Slipping into Nico’s mouth, Jason tasted him, memorised the warm wetness, the softness of his lips, tongue and mouth. Soft hungry moans escaped them both as Nico rubbed his hands all over Jason’s back while Jason started pressing his slick length against Nico’s tight entrance. Nico was starting to turn blue when he finally took a sharp breath through his nose, feeling warm tingles travelling down from his lips to his intimate areas.

It only took one single fluid motion and Nico threw his head back against the wall, groaning in pleasure. “Feels so...good...” He felt full and he felt good. Jason was inside him and he wanted more, he wanted all that Jason had to give him. His needy whimpers were silenced when Jason occupied his mouth with his warm slick tongue. The first time they had done this, Nico had hoped to get it over and done quickly. Now, however, after knowing how much pleasure Jason could provide him with, he was in no hurry at all.

Jason had a satisfied smirk when Nico squirmed in pleasure when he started rolling his hips against him. “Good, you need to feel good,” he purred. His scantily furry chest was puffed out and his muscles appeared harder and more defined, causing Nico to look rather small beneath him. Perhaps it was a case of feral instincts but Jason felt the need to show his mate his body and the strength each strand of muscle contained. He wanted Nico to enjoy this, he wanted him to have every second of toe-curling pleasure he could give. The moment Nico screamed Jason’s name for all to hear, Jason knew exactly what he had to do.

"Oh, gods!" Nico could feel Jason’s knot swelling deep inside him. The two lovers were sealed together and they both enjoyed every moment of it. Jason was no longer able to pull back but he could still give small thrusts into Nico. He did compensate however by aiming for Nico’s special spot, the spot that made him see stars. With his ankles crossed behind Jason and his feet digging into the werewolf’s firm ass, Nico felt his eyes water. Nothing on earth or on Olympus could compare to the sensation of a long thick werewolf cock prodding at his insides and filling him up. It took all his might to hold back a scream of pleasure that was on the tip of his tongue.

He was not at all ashamed of the fact that his cock stood at attention, pearls of precum oozing out of the slit. He no longer cared whether he was a sexual deviant, he was already in heaven. Nico’s cock brushed repeatedly against Jason’s muscular abdomen, leaving wet smears each time his cock rubbed against Jason’s skin. The more pressure Jason applied onto Nico’s special spot, the closer Nico was to his climax. After some gruelling minutes, Nico got what he wanted. His whole body shook with pleasure as waves of indescribable ecstasy pulsed towards his cock, forcing the cum out of him. Strings of cum shot out of him and painted Jason’s stomach a milky white. “Jason!”

Jason growled in reply, his cock throbbing and twitching inside of Nico in all his warm tightness and he threw back his head with a howl of completion, filling his mate with his seed. The pleasure was great even as Jason’s cum continued to flow into Nico, but the best had passed. Nico looked incredibly contented, with his eyes closed and his mouth stretched into a happy smile. He was exhausted however, his head hung low, too tired to look up. 

Jason carried him into their bed. They laid side by side, with Jason nuzzling Nico. He shuddered as his orgasm continued to fill Nico. It could go on for nearly half an hour, enough time for a cuddle. To Jason, it was rather, erotic, to see his cum dripping out of Nico, forming a small stream between his cute ass cheeks. He could smell his essence all over his mate, intoxicating him. His scent was very strong, strong enough that even Nico could notice. Nico had been marked by him, that he and only he could touch Nico the way he did and nobody else could.

Quiet whimpers and soft laughter filled the room as the werewolf and his mate exchanged kisses, licks, nuzzles and caresses. The sight of Jason going cross-eyed each time Nico unintentionally clenched around his cock made Nico giggle. After a while, Nico grew drowsy and buried his head in Jason’s chest, listening to the strong heartbeat of his lover.

“That certainly was something.”

“Yup. Wouldn’t give it up for anything.” Jason ran his fingers through Nico’s long locks of hair. A thought that had been lingering around the back of his head and he finally acknowledged it. “Nico, I need to ask you something.”

Nico looked up at Jason sleepily, eyes half closed. “Hmm?”

“The first time we did this, you said that you didn’t want me to be alone and you were going to give me a chance at love with you.”

“I did.”

“Are you happy being with me?”

Nico shook his head and laughed at how serious Jason looked despite still filling him with cum. “Yes. Why?”

Jason looked a little crestfallen.“I just sometimes wonder whether I’m good enough for you, or I’m too dangerous to be around you. Whether I deserve to be with you.”

Pulling Jason’s face close to his, Nico kissed him gently on his delectable lips. “It doesn’t matter whether you deserve it, because I want to be with you. You love me, and I...I love you.”

Jason’s glowing eyes seemed to take on a bright twinkle as he leaned in and shared a soft kiss with Nico. His heart thundered in his chest. Something deep inside him, swooned. Because of his mate, he knew that Nico was something he had to have in his life. He watched closely as Nico’s eyes slowly slid close. “Goodnight, Nico.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, comments and suggestions are always appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

A deep frown creased Nico’s forehead, consternation clearly written all over his face. “Where the hell is it?” he muttered. He had already laid out his inventory on the table next to him. His sword, his wallet, a small collection of precious stones that Hazel had gifted him the last time they met and his handkerchief. He patted his pockets to make sure that they really were empty and unfortunately, they were. He then slipped his hands into them to check for holes. “Fuck.”

  
He wiggled his fingers through a hole in his right pocket, large enough for his sole drachma to have made its way to the ground. Nico looked around, hoping expectedly to see a golden coin laying in the snow but no such luck. If his drachma had indeed fallen on the ground, it would have been concealed by the frost. The Stoll brothers trudged by, a little curious as to why Nico wore a distressed look. They did not stop to offer their help in any case; they had several pranks in mind for the Ares cabin.

Even in his troubles, Nico could not help breaking a small smile when he realised the somewhat ridiculous irony of the situation. He was the son of Hades, the Rich One, and yet here he was in a rather tight situation, lacking both drachmas and dollars. It was not to say that he was broke, on the contrary, he had a small fortune in gemstones he collected in the Underworld and as much as Hades would grumble, he would still dump an entire purse of drachmas onto Nico’s lap if he asked for it (though probably to Persephone’s displeasure).

Nico shuffled through the snow, tracing his footsteps. He was really holding on to the hope that he would suddenly spot a golden glimmer on the frozen ground. Lady Luck (or Fortuna as Jason would call her) was not on his side for it proved to be a fruitless search. “Maybe I really have to call Dad,” Nico mused to himself. He was not eager to do so however, for the last time he was in the Underworld, Hades was losing his mind handling the ever growing lines of the dead at the gates. Nico suspected he would probably not appreciate his son disturbing him to ask for his allowance.

“Looking for something?”

“Yeah, I kind of dropped a drachma. Did you see it?” Nico turned to face Piper. She had a friendly smile on her face but she averted his eyes.

“No, but I can lend you mine,” she said as she tossed him a coin.

Nico gave her a nod of thanks and she continued on her way to her cabin. Things were admittedly somewhat awkward between him and Piper due to Jason. She was not at all an archenemy or anything of the sort but there was some level of discomfort whenever she bumped into Nico. They still did talk and laugh together but it was certainly not the same as before. She had loved Jason but she could not bring herself to accept the fact that he was now technically a monster. Nico had been there to cheer Jason up when she broke up with him. Luckily for everyone, no grudges were held and Jason was still cordial toward her.

After doing one last sweep of the ground, Nico turned the faucet that was connected to a series of lawn sprinklers. A spray of mist erupted from the sprinkler nozzle and the cold rays of the winter sun passed through it. A kaleidoscope of colours appeared in the air, shimmering and gleaming. As Nico tossed his drachma into the rainbow, he said, “Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering.” The piece of gold vanished into thin air. “Hazel Levesque.”

After a few seconds, the vapour solidified into a clear image of Nico’s sister. Hazel’s back was toward Nico and she was garbed in full armour. Nico guessed that she must be in a middle of a war game and sure enough, she ducked when a volley of snowballs flew past her. A squad of snowmen, or demigods in top hats and scarves, ran helter-skelter in the distance as a snow boulder landed among them. A triumphant trumpet from Hannibal shook the ground. “Hazel!” Nico called.

“Nico?” Hazel’s face lit up when she saw her brother. “Nico!”

“Sup, little sis?” Nico chuckled as Hazel threw herself to the ground to avoid getting barraged in the head. A legionary spotted her and tried to sneak up on her but before Nico could even shout out a warning, Hazel turned and left him groaning on the ground, remains of a snowball in his face. She crawled away a safe distance from the battlefield before getting to her feet. “I didn’t know it’s snowing in Cali.”

“It’s not,” said Hazel as she brushed the frost off her pauldrons. “It snows in the camp only. Probably magic or something.”

“Cool. How are you doing? And how’s Frank doing?”

“I’m good. With Reyna back and Octavian gone, New Rome is back on track. You don’t know how much damage that slimeball caused to the place. Annabeth sent us some designs to improve the place. Reyna plans to start work in the spring. Frank is learning up the stuff he needs to know from Reyna. He’s quite a fine praetor. Plus, he’s the one who planned up this war game.” She paused and looked away for a moment. “Frank, Nico’s here!”

“Tell him I said hi!” Frank’s voice boomed from somewhere. From the sounds of splattering snowballs, he was probably busy. A stray shot struck Hazel in the back, giving her a slight shock.

“You haven’t visited for a while. Will you be coming over for Christmas?”

Nico laughed. “Yup, I will be there. Maybe you can come over here for Christmas eve?”

“I’ll talk to Frank,” she agreed. “So, how about you? And Jason?” Nico had been wondering when was his sister was going to ask about Jason. Unlike Piper, she continued to be supportive of Jason when it was revealed that he had been bitten and she was pretty delighted when Nico ended up with Jason. Things did somewhat change however when Nico let her in on the fact that Jason had taken him as his mate. Nico still remembered how dumbstruck she was when she put two and two together. Now, whenever she talked about Jason, she looked as though she wanted to burst into laughter or administer a sisterly lecture, perhaps together.

“I’m fine. Jason takes good care of me.”

Hazel laughed and nodded. “He’d better. I have a shock collar if you need one.”

“He’s not THAT kinky,” said Nico, turning his face to hide the obvious blush that tinted his cheeks. He had no actual desire to divulge the explicit details of his love life to his sister.

“Spare me the details.”

“Too traumatising?” he teased.

“Oh, stop it, Nico!” She buried her head in her hands, trying to hold back her laughter. There was really no reason or motivation for her to imagine her big brother being pinned under a very enthusiastic Jason and she really did not want anything of the sort in her head. “Does Dad know?”

“Yes. He took it quite...well.” Nico did not mention to his sister that Hades was stupefied when he brought Jason down with him to the Underworld to visit. He was not a stranger to odd romantic pairings, given what his siblings and relatives were capable of but it still did shock him that his son was dating Jason. “You couldn’t have gone with literally anyone else but a werewolf?” he had grumbled. While he did give his blessing, he never stopped glowering at Jason at the dinner table.

The mist started to dissipate and Hazel’s image began to blur. “We’ll see you next week, Hazel!”

“Kay! Tell Jason I said hi!” Her voice grew fainter by the second and she managed to wave Nico goodbye before her image faded into thin air.

“I heard someone call my name?” A pair of strong arms wrapped around Nico’s lean torso.

“I was talking to Hazel. She told me to say hi for her.” Nico leaned back, immersing in the lovely warmth that Jason’s body offered him. The icy chill on his olive skin was immediately chased away as Jason leaned down and rested his chin on Nico’s shoulder. His hot breath tickled Nico’s ears and they just stood there for several seconds, swaying. Embracing. Almost dancing. Jason was like a cozy fireplace that Nico could cuddle up next to and keep himself warm with. He may have lost his ability to fly, but Jason still retained that smell of fresh air and ozone that followed him around. Nico let the cologne-like scent envelop him and comfort him, making him feel at ease and loved.

“Come.” Jason slipped Nico’s fingers into his hand and they walked together at a leisurely pace, enjoying the cool evening air and the pristine snow that surrounded them. The dryads were having quite a time, making snow angels with the satyrs and flinging snow balls at their naiad counterparts. Most of the campers were indoors, bundled up in scarves and mittens or enjoying the season, like the Stolls who were planting a group of snowmen with rude gestures outside Cabin Five.

Despite the cold weather, the canoe lake had not frozen over, possibly due to naiad intervention. Nico noticed a blanket laid out on the ground with a pair of mugs and a flask.

“You planned a picnic?”

“Not exactly. I just made hot chocolate and thought you would like it.”

“I do.”

“Good.” Jason sat Nico down on the blanket and poured him a mug. The sweet bitter aroma of the hot drink filled his nostrils and was immensely pleasing to him. It had been quite some time since he drank chocolate. This was, after all, the second time he was going to spend Christmas as a camper of Camp Half-Blood and the first as Jason’s mate. Jason filled his own mug, substantially bigger compared to Nico’s.

“Marshmallows?” Jason pushed forward an open bag of marshmallows, fresh and fluffy. Nico took a handful and dropped them into his drink. As Nico took a sip from his mug, Jason went around and sat behind Nico, his legs spread out so that Nico was sitting between them. Almost instinctively, Nico started to wriggle backwards, pushing himself behind until he could feel Jason’s hot chest pressing against his back. He leaned back and sighed. For several passing minutes, the two lovers said nothing. They did not need to. They had each other’s company and that was enough for both of them.

A shudder travelled down Nico’s spine when he felt Jason’s touch on the exposed skin of his neck. He felt the knot of his camp necklace being fumbled with. “I got you something,” Jason whispered into his ear as he unravelled the string.

“What is it?”

A metal pendant slipped down the string before coming to a stop next to the two beads that rested on Nico’s chest. Nico slipped his hand into his t-shirt and took hold of the pendant before pulling it out to take a closer look. A warm happy smile appeared on his face when he saw what it was.

It was clearly the handiwork of the Hephaestus campers, the intricate attention to detail and metalwork testified to that. That would explain why Jason had been out of sight for most of the day. The pendant was in the shape of a howling wolf, the fur close to life-like due to careful smelting. A small speck of blue was in place of the eyes and it actually seemed to emit a dim glow. “It’s...very beautiful.”

“Like you,” Jason chuckled as he nuzzled Nico’s neck. “Take it as an early Christmas gift. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t. Thanks.” He paused to let his necklace fall and hang outside his t-shirt. He turned his face to look Jason in the eye. “Seriously, thanks for everything. I mean not just this, but...everything. The flowers, the scarf, those exclusive edition Mythomagic cards – “

“The sex.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “And the sex.”

Jason’s eyes crinkled in mirth. “I think I should be the one thanking you. You remember that night? You know, that night I...claimed you.”

“It’s kind of hard to forget that night...”

“Yeah, it is.” Jason’s eyes seemed to temporarily drift away into dreamland but he continued talking. “Anyway, I don’t think I’ve told you before but, the whole time, I was thinking about how I was going to spend the rest of my life on my own since you were not going to be my mate. You loved Percy and I’m...just Jason. But, thanks for accepting me, for becoming my mate, for everything. At least, I won’t have to be alone.”

“Just a little update and correction,” said Nico. “I liked Percy and I still do as a friend. But as for you, I love you, both regular you and werewolf you.”

Jason smiled before leaning in and bestowing a chaste kiss on his mate’s lips. It was a subtle change but Nico could feel Jason’s heart thumping wildly against his back as they locked lips in a simple but meaningful gesture. It had taken some time but by then, it felt so natural whenever they kissed, it left Nico breathless and happy. He had seen the darkest moments that life had to offer. The goddess Akhlys herself was impressed at how much misery and heartbreak he had been burdened with.

Now, things were different, and in a good way. Whenever Jason brushed his lips against Nico’s, Nico could feel his heart doing cartwheels and he was sure that Jason knew it. Whenever he was held in Jason’s embrace, the inexpressible feeling of being safe and sound left him quiet and nearly in tears. He had spent so many nights alone, crying himself to sleep whenever he saw the one he yearned to be his out of his grasp. For many years, he never really expected to live until the next morning. Now, he had a reason to live: to be able to open his eyes after a long night of sleep to look into those breathtaking blue eyes of Jason.

They just sat there, with Jason keeping Nico warm and comfortable even as the mercury fell, until the final rays of the sun vanished over the horizon and the darkness of night set in, with the stars and the moon starting to come out of hiding. Nico scanned the skies, wondering whether he would catch a glimpse of Artemis flying around in her chariot. She was not around but a familiar constellation of stars illuminated the evening sky.

“We probably should get going,” Nico muttered as he got to his feet, helped up by Jason. “They’ll probably send someone to call us for dinner.”

He started walking toward the dining pavilion but realised that Jason was not with him. Jason stood still, his glowing eyes darting back and forth and his ears perked up. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Nico walked over to Jason and tugged at his hand but Jason was as sturdy as an oak tree, not moving a single inch forward. All Nico could hear were the distant sounds of plates being handed out, excited chattering and the lake water lapping at the shore.

“It’s like...screaming. You can’t hear it?”

“Umm, no?”

“I’m probably imagining it.” He started walking with Nico toward the pavilion, rubbing his forehead. Nico tried to concentrate, blocking out other sounds, hoping to hear what Jason heard but it was a futile and fruitless attempt.

Just as they were passing the columns into the dining area, Jason stopped dead in his tracks. For some reason, he was gritting his teeth, but he did not seem to be in pain and it was impossible for him to be in heat again. Some of the campers also saw him and were taken aback, probably expecting Jason to wolf out any moment. He turned to look at Nico. “You go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“But...” Nico did not finish his sentence as Jason raced down the hill and disappeared into the darkness. Jason was certainly behaving oddly that night, but he was always filled with surprises.

“What’s wrong with Jason?” asked Will as Nico piled up his plate with meatloaf, meant for Jason.

Nico shrugged. “I don’t know. He said he heard someone screaming.”

“Screaming?”

Before Nico could answer, a satyr came running into the pavilion, his hooves clopping on the marble floor. His face exposed an obvious sense of urgency and panic. “There’s a car accident just outside the camp! The mortals need help!” Everyone turned to look at Half-Blood Hill where the satyr was pointing at. A dark pillar of smoke and an orange glow could be seen. Nico’s eyes widened when he realised that there was where Jason had been heading towards.

While Chiron organised a party of demigods to go and help, Nico could not bring himself to wait any longer. Dumping the plate and the meatloaves on a table, he charged out of the pavilion and ran as fast as he could. He felt scared, frightened at what could possibly have happened to Jason. It seemed remarkably coincidental that Jason had been hearing a screaming sound some minutes before a traffic accident occurred. Nico could not help wondering whether the two events were tied.

“Fuck.” A pickup truck or rather, the remains of a pickup truck, blazed furiously while another car, a Volkswagen was turned on its side and laid there like a dead animal. Nico rushed toward the driver of the pickup, who had been flung out of his vehicle. The driver was unconscious, blood pooling under his head. “Hold on. Help is coming!” Nico could see that the man’s life aura was starting to pull away from his body.

A young woman screamed and begged for help as she was pinned down by her seat in the Volkswagen wreck. Nico was about to help when the rescue party finally turned up and started breaking her free. Will hurried to the pickup driver’s side and administered emergency first aid. Nico could see though, that the unfortunate man was in his death throes. For no particular reason, Nico turned to look at the burning wreck when he saw Jason, shifted into his werewolf form, staring right back at him.

“I...I didn’t mean to...”

“Jason?” Nico was about to walk up to Jason when he felt a hand holding him back.

“Look!”

Nico gasped when he saw the sides of both vehicles were nearly torn apart, with long narrow holes ripping through the metalwork. Claw marks.

“I...I...I did this...?"


	5. Chapter 5

“But sir, I must – “

“Out of the question! Now, will you just go away and let me enjoy admiring this bottle of Dom Perignon, Angle?”

“Angelo.”

“Whatever. I don’t care if your father is Old Uncle Down Under, you’ll not be going down at any time soon. Now, just bugger off and go bother someone else.”

Nico pursed his lips, doing his best to suppress the fury that was bubbling inside him, threatening to erupt out of him like a volcano. It was not of great help that Mr. D had such a smug look on his face that invited someone to punch out a few molars. If not for the fact that Mr. D was a god who could scramble his brains in a second, Nico would willingly volunteer to be that someone. How Percy and Annabeth had been able to stand the prick for years escaped Nico. The more times Mr. D got his name wrong, the more Nico felt like calling him ‘wine dude’ just to infuriate him. 

Chiron gently laid a hand on Nico’s shoulder. “Nico, why don’t you just go back to your cabin? Get some rest. You can come over tomorrow to see him.”

“Sir, Jason hasn’t eaten dinner and he’s frightened. I need to see him. Just for a few minutes. Please, just for a few minutes.” Nico’s voice broke as he tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. Seeing Jason trembling and in chains was not what he had expected to see tonight. 

The old centaur turned his head to look at Mr. D. The god was trying to pop open the cork without them noticing but quickly hid the bottle away when he realised he was being watched. “Why is it always the kids of the Trio who are the troublemakers?” he sighed. “First, Peter Johnson, now Nathan de Angle and – what’s the name of that thing in the basement again? Johnson Grady?”

Nico had been gritting his teeth and clenching his fists with each word Mr. D spoke. The moment he heard what Jason was being crudely referred to as, he finally lost it. The room seemed to grow noticeably colder as Nico spoke in a voice as cold as death. “He is not a ‘thing’. His name is Jason Grace. He is a demigod, like you once were. Keep getting my name wrong. I don’t care. What I do care is that you have a demigod chained up in the basement who is hungry and scared and you are not letting anyone help him. Why?” He did not notice it until later but a thin layer of frost carpeted the floor where he stood.

Mr. D was seemingly unimpressed as he sat forward in his armchair, brows furrowed. “I’d watch your tone if I were you, boy. You’re testing my patience.” He cracked his knuckles as he continued, “Why? Because I can. Yes, maybe this Jordan boy of yours is a demigod, ‘like I once was’. Might I remind you though what he did just two hours ago? Thanks to him, we have two mortals out for the count, one in a coma. He is a werewolf. A dangerous creature, a servant of Lycaon, an enemy of the gods, mind you.”

“He’s different!” Nico snapped irately.

“Is he? Oh, of course! He’s completely one hundred percent safe! Why don’t the mortals come and pet him?” Mr. D mocked in a snivelling sing-song. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s dangerous. What you saw today is just the beginning. He’s a monster now and he’ll always be one. Today was the first time. Will you still say that he’s different when he attacks the camp? Or when he eats a satyr or a naiad, maybe a camper? Will you?”

“That will never happen. He is stronger than you think.”

The god snorted, “Yes, strong enough to rip silly demigods into half. Tell me, Noel, why exactly do you want to act as nanny to this creature anyway? What’s in it for you? The ‘power’ of friendship perhaps?”

Nico sighed and lowered his gaze to the floor. While most of his friends and his father knew the true nature of his relationship with Jason, everyone else thought them as nothing more than the usual couple. He and Jason had been content with keeping it under the covers but Nico finally decided to let Chiron and Mr. D in on it. His voice was a near inaudible whisper as he spoke. “I’m his mate.”

“What’s that? I didn’t get that.” Mr. D leaned forward, his mouth twisted into a mocking sneer. “You’re his what?”

“I’m his mate. He has claimed me.” Nico said it louder, with a fierce level of pride. Perhaps it was a sense of loyalty and commitment, but he was not ashamed of who he was. He had gone past that stage and was not planning to take any steps backward. He was going to have his way, even if it meant going up against a god.

The room was silent except for the crackling of the wood in the fireplace. Chiron tried to shoot a kind, encouraging smile at Nico but his eyes were undeniably filled with concern. In a direct contrast, Mr. D scrutinised Nico with hauteur. A crude smile slowly emerged on his sneering face as he started breaking out into a gleeful chortle. “His mate? Well, that’s certainly...interesting. And that I thought father was weird for how he went after Leda.”

“Nico is the child of Hades who brought the Athena Parthenos to this camp and saved Olympus,” Chiron notified him. “Perhaps some leeway should be provided to him for this one instance?”

“Right, right,” Mr. D turned his eyes toward the fire. “Perhaps I do owe you some thanks for your...impressive feat. I’m feeling unusually gracious today, so you will have an audience with your ‘claimant’. Perhaps you will end up as his dinner and I will have one less problematic child on my hands. You can go now. But not before you thank me for my graciousness.”

A long list of curses that would make Ares blush seemed more appropriate for Mr. D, thought Nico. Hades could be unreasonable at times but Mr. D was on an entirely new level. Through clenched teeth, he muttered a word of thanks as acidly as he could. To Chiron however, Nico mouthed his thanks silently. With a final withering stare at the triumphantly grinning wine god, Nico stalked out of the room. In the kitchen, he picked up the plate of meatloaf he had saved, now albeit cold after several hours. Argus, armed with a baseball bat, opened the door and let Nico descend into the cold basement.

For a brief moment, Jason’s face lit up when he saw Nico at the top of the stairs. However, with each step Nico took toward him, he slowly lowered his head, his normally cheerful eyes filled with shame and guilt. By the time Nico reached the bottom, the werewolf was hiding his face away from the light, like he did not want to be seen by his mate. Seeing Jason with his hands behind him, chained to a pillar and his legs fettered like a criminal made Nico’s stomach contract into a tight little ball. He had no idea what really happened hours ago, but it certainly did not mean that the Hero of Olympus and one of the Seven deserved to be chained up alone in a cold damp basement. Jason had been there during the lowest point in Nico’s life. Now, Nico was there to return the favour.

A sad heavy sigh escaped Nico as he sat down opposite Jason. He tried to lift his eyes to look directly at Jason but he simply could not. For a while, the two sat there in silence, eyes averting each other’s gaze. Nico was not sure of what he should say. In truth, he had no idea what he needed to say. Simply so much happened that night that he had no idea where to start. Nico knew that he was not there to interrogate Jason, but he could not shake off his need to ask, “Why?” 

“You shouldn’t have come,” Jason murmured.

“Jason,” said Nico, his voice quavering. “You haven’t eaten anything since lunch. You need to eat.”

“I can go without eating. You should go back.”

“I’m not leaving until you’ve eaten something,” Nico insisted. Jason’s words reminded him of Percy’s, when he had told Nico to leave him at the Styx. Nico had felt unwanted and rejected then and he felt unwanted and rejected now.

“Don’t you get it?” Jason finally turned his eyes toward Nico. Seeing the wounded look in Jason’s eyes caused the feeling of a dark cloud overhead to descend on Nico. “I’m not safe to be around. Not after what happened today. If only I had known...”

“Jason...” 

“Nico, just stay away from me, please. I’m begging you. I don’t want to hurt you.” Jason’s face was twisted in anguish as his chin sunk dejectedly into his chest.

“You won’t.” Nico inched closer toward Jason before reaching out his hand and gently touched the side of the werewolf’s face. For a single second, their eyes met, Nico’s filled with pity and Jason’s with guilt. Jason immediately shirked away before fixing his eyes on the ground. Nico looked away too, but to hide the tears that were welling in his eyes.

“I’ll go, but only after you eat.”

While he still continued to keep his eyes on the ground, Jason nodded reluctantly. Nico cut the meatloaves into bite-sized pieces before forking them into Jason’s mouth. Not a word was passed between them as Nico helped feed Jason. So many thoughts were prancing around in Nico’s head. He just did not know how to let any of them out. Simply seeing Jason, normally brave and firm, so pathetic and vulnerable felt like a punch in the gut. The bitter feeling that plagued him when he realised Bianca was never going to return from her quest was making a comeback and Nico hated it.

Jason’s chains clanked noisily on the concrete floor when he tried to reach for a bottle of water a short distance from him. It was just slightly out of his reach. His fingertips grazed its side before accidentally toppling it over. Nico retrieved it without a complaint before unscrewing the cap. With his finger under Jason’s chin, Nico held the bottle to his lips and helped him to drink. 

There were so many different words on the tip of Nico’s tongue but he had no idea which had to be said first. He wanted to tell Jason that he loved him, that he would stand by him and that whatever may have happened that night, his feelings for him had not changed. He wanted to tell him to stay strong and to not hate himself. He wanted to tell him that he was not a monster and that he did not see him as one. Nico said nothing. Instead, he pressed his forehead against Jason’s with the bridge of their noses touching. They did not cry, they did not speak, the two lovers just stayed motionless, wordlessly providing their strength, love and support to each other. 

The door swung open with Argus gesturing that Nico’s time was up. Nico did not want to leave. He wanted to be with Jason, to be there for him as Jason was during the lowest point of his life. Just as he was about to turn to beg for more time, he felt a fleeting but warm kiss on his lips. “You need to go. I’ll see you soon.” Jason sounded a little like his normal self, confident and certain. His eyes told a different story whatsoever.

With a heart shrivelled with bitter reluctance, Nico got up and slowly went up the way he came. As he reached the final step, he turned to look at Jason. The werewolf noticed him staring and shot him a cheerful grin that was almost instantly replaced by a thoughtful, sombre expression. Nico sighed. How things could have come to this, only the gods knew. Argus closed and locked the door behind him before assuming his initial guard position.

Nico did not cry or weep as he trudged through the thick blanket of snow toward his cabin. His mind was blank as he sat on the side of his bed, the same bed that he had shared with Jason many times. He did not know what to think or feel. He just felt empty. The emptiness was amplified when he finally laid his head down on his pillow, without an unusually warm body cuddling him. There were no lame jokes to be shared or cheesy romantic one-liners to be used. For the first time in so long, without Jason by his side, he felt so alone.


	6. Chapter 6

The previous night’s sleep had been fitful and restless. Nico was exhausted. His eyes were dropping every few minutes but he was fighting tooth and nail to keep them open. He sat between Will and Jake Mason, Leo’s assistant counsellor with his head bowed, pushing back against the overwhelming fatigue. In all sincerity, he loved to be in the camp especially with Jason, but the occasional bout of camp politics made him a little nostalgic for the times when he could make his own decisions for himself.

“I’d already warned you all that this would eventually happen. Jason was and is a good fighter and a hero in his own right, but that was in the past. Right now, we have a werewolf locked up under us. Demigod or not, monsters have no place staying in this camp.” Clarisse was grim but firm as she spoke her mind. Her boyfriend, Chris, sat behind her, nodding in agreement. “Nothing personal, Nico.”

Nico frowned, feeling a sudden stab of anxiety in his gut. The counsellors seemed to have split up into three factions, those who wanted to give Jason a second chance, those who wanted to expel him altogether and those who were abstaining from the discussion. Nico knew that he could count on Percy and Annabeth for their support and the Apollo and Hephaestus campers seemed to have his back, but he was failing to get an outright majority. He looked across the table toward Piper, wondering whether she would choose to help her ex-boyfriend. As soon as their eyes met, she looked away, her face blank and expressionless.

“Perhaps we should all be reminded that we have a hell-hound walking on camp grounds right now,” Will pointed out. Almost on cue, a bark as loud as cannon fire resonated through the cold air, shaking the frozen window panes.

“But has she attacked any mortals yet? Jason has.” Nico buried his head in his hands as Clarisse sat back down. He had not been allowed to see Jason throughout the entire day and he was growing increasingly worried about him. The table broke into murmuring with the counsellors debating over her valid point.

All eyes turned toward Miranda Gardiner as she pushed back her chair and stood up. She certainly did resemble her mother, Nico mused to himself. She began, “As much as I dislike agreeing with Clarisse, we can’t afford to take any further chances. Yesterday, what Jason launched was an unprovoked attack, leaving two mortals injured; one seriously. How long will it be before he does it again? Perhaps to one of us?”

“To be fair,” Jake interrupted. “No one actually saw him attacking the mortals.”

Clarisse snorted angrily. “Claw marks on the cars. Him being the only one there at the time. Shifted once we got there. Unless there’s another werewolf outside the camp that we don’t know about, I say he’s the only one to blame.”

“Perhaps my siblings can help come up with something to restrain Jason if he goes…wild. I’m sure we can cook up a spell or a find some sort of enchantment,” Lou Ellen suggested.

“And what if it doesn’t work? We shouldn’t be treating monsters like pets. Mrs. O’Leary is one thing, but Jason is another. He's not a pet. The safety of this camp and everyone inside is threatened with him within its borders. I know that expelling him sounds a little over the top, but I think it’s for the best." Nico noted several other counsellors nodding in agreement with Clarisse. Things were certainly not going his way and he had not yet uttered even a single word; too distracted by the thought of Jason languishing below him. Then, an unexpected voice spoke up.

"I'm not sure if expulsion is enough." The room immediately fell silent. For a brief moment, Nico did not understand what Piper meant. Then, the bitter truth started creeping into his mind. Even she seemed to be surprised by what she had just said, but she pursed her lips and carried on. “If we expel him, what then? Where will he go? What will he do? Are we supposed to let him become nothing more than another monster?”

Nico shot up out of his chair, his face a combination of shock and disbelief. Piper was a friend, both to him and Jason. He could not believe what was happening before him. Shock seemed to be striking him, hammering down like a volley of thunderbolts. “Piper, what are you saying?”

Her eyes did not meet Nico’s as she continued, “I mean, if we exile him, what do you think will happen to him? He’s starting to lose control of himself, and I think we should stop him before he turns -”

“Are you saying that we should kill Jason?” Nico struggled to control the quavering of his voice but it was difficult. To expect these words to come out of Piper’s mouth was unimaginable, yet they just did. This was not a stab in the back, this was more of a stab in the chest. How could she even think of such a suggestion, Nico could not stop wondering to himself. He was too distracted to notice that the other counsellors, even Clarisse seemed to have paled a little. Killing an enemy demigod in battle was one thing, but suggesting an execution of one of their own seemed a little too much, especially coming from a daughter of Aphrodite.

Piper shook her head, eyes focusing on the table. “I didn’t say that,” she whispered.

“Then, what were you saying?”

She stayed silent.

“How could you?” Nico’s mind was a whirlpool of feelings, mostly of anger, of sadness and of shock. He was not exactly Piper’s BFF, but he still could not believe that she would actually be capable of doing this. How wrong he had been to assume that she would eventually show her support for Jason. What would have happened if Jason had been up here with him, Nico would never know.

A cold, hostile silence met Nico’s question. A few minutes passed while the rest of the counsellors waited for Piper’s answer. Even Clovis, who had been slobbering over the table in his sleep, seemed to be temporarily wide awake. Finally, Piper spoke, her voice constricted. “Nico, I loved Jason and I still do. But do you even know what he is now? What he’s capable of? You think I want to be the villain here? I don’t. But the Jason I knew, I think he’s starting to disappear. I know you love him and he loves you, but how long will it take before you realise that he’s gone? And by then, will it be too late to help him?”

“You’ve given up on him,” Nico bitterly noted. “And you want all of us to do the same?”

“It’s for his own good.”

“No, it’s not. Maybe you think that Jason’s becoming a monster, but I know he’s stronger than what all of you think.” Nico paused to look at his fellow campers. “I know you all are scared of him, but please, I beg you, please give him a second chance. I’ll get to the bottom of this, find out what happened to him yesterday and prevent it from happening again. If he has to leave, I’ll go with him. I swear on the Styx.”

The sacred vow Nico made sent a wave of murmuring across the table. Nico sat back down on his chair, chewing on his dry lips. He felt a warm hand clasping his shoulder, drawing him reluctantly out of his thoughts. “Well spoken,” said Will, sporting an encouraging grin on his tanned face. He squeezed Nico’s shoulder. “Jason would be proud of you.”

Nico shrugged. “He’d do the same for me.”

“I think the talks have gone on a little longer than expected,” Pollux announced. “Maybe we can start taking the votes now? Percy and Annabeth have agreed to vote for whatever Nico votes for, so there’s that. So, all those in favour of exile?”

Five hands were raised. Clarisse, Piper and Miranda were among their number. Nico could not stop himself from glaring at Piper. To Nico, this felt like a betrayal. This incident would be forever imprinted in his memory. On her part, she looked away, perhaps ashamed by what she was doing but she did not withdraw her vote.

“Those who oppose?”

Nico raised his hand. Two other hands joined him, belonging to Will and to Jake. A spasm crossed Nico’s ashen face. He looked around at those who had not raised their hands, silently begging them, pleading with them, but as soon as he laid his eyes on each of them, they found the floor an interesting sight.

“Five against five, the rest abstaining. Does anyone else want to vote?” asked Pollux.

No one did. An uneasy silence reigned in the room.

Pollux cleared his throat. “Well, damn. We’re screwed.”

A thought struck Nico. “Jason is the counsellor of Cabin One. Shouldn’t he have a say too?”

“Right,” mocked Clarisse, rolling her eyes. “Ask the werewolf whether he wants a punishment or not.”

“We do need a tie-breaker,” Lou said quietly.

After a moment of silence, Butch stood up and began walking toward the basement door. “I’ll get him. You might want to get your swords ready,” he joked. A cheerful chuckle escaped him as he placed his hand on the door knob.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Butch, a guy quite bulked with muscle, was hurled back and thrown flat against the wall like a rag doll by the sheer force of the door splintering into pieces. A sinister, dark snarl resonated through the air and Nico felt his hair stand on end. Instinctively, he reached for his sword which was not there; he had left it in the living room. A large figure sped out through the doorway, moving in such haste that it was nearly a blur, effortlessly bursting through the front door. The flow of time seemed to slow as Nico stared in abject horror at the creature that had been Jason Grace.

His orange camp t-shirt was in tatters, torn and ripped. Jason’s body no longer resembled that of a human. A hulk of pure muscle and blonde fur, like a bodybuilder on steroids. A few inches seemed to have been added to Jason’s already impressive height, his head nearly reached the ceiling. Razor-sharp fangs lined his mouth, meant for tearing flesh. The sight of Jason turning into a feral beast tore away at Nico’s heart. For the first time in his life, he realised that Jason looked uncannily similar to the werewolves he had fought during his quest returning the Athena Parthenos.

“Stop him!” Clarisse, brave woman that she was, leapt onto Jason’s back and tried to restrain him. She dug her foot into the back of his knee, trying to bring him down to her level but she would have better luck punching a concrete wall. Jason simply growled, grabbed her by the neck and sent her flying. Nico’s face was a snarl of agony as he dashed into the living room, and grabbed the hilt of his sword. He did not want to hurt Jason, but he could not allow him to hurt anyone else. Sword in hand, Nico turned to face his boyfriend but by then, Jason was gone. In his wake, a big gaping hole had been left in the front door, chilling the room as cold gales charged howling into the house.

“So much for a second chance,” Clarisse grumbled with Chris helping her up, her eyes furiously shooting daggers at Nico. The son of Hades remained speechless. Everything Piper had said, every fear she had of Jason, was being realised right that moment.

A large wooden crate slammed onto the ground, breaking open to reveal an entire armoury of weapons. Swords, daggers, spears and arrows. All made of a glimmering shiny metal. Silver. “Talk later, fight now,” Jake hollered as he started tossing weapons to each demigod as they charged out of the house. Nico kept his sword but took a dagger; he did not intend to use it. He noticed that the blade was free of the usual scratches and marks that came with age.

“How long have you been keeping this?” Nico asked; his voice nearly cracking.

Jake sighed as he tossed Will a quiver filled with silver-tipped arrows. “Since we found out about him.”

Will grabbed Nico’s hand and rushed him out of the room. The camp was on full alert, with campers, satyrs and nymphs scurrying around to arm themselves. In the distance, at the edge of the forest, a large figure ran on all fours before rearing back on its two legs to let out a long howl. Nico felt like crumbling to his knees. He did not understand. How could so much change in a single night? How could the Jason he knew and loved turn into another mindless monster to fight? Will tugged at his hand, forcing to run along with him. “Come on! We need to go after him.”

Chiron bore a grim face as he gave a newly-smelted silver sword a twirl in one direction, and in the other. As Nico and Will made their way toward him, he sheathed the sword and turned to face them. The campers who surrounded him were engaged in a raucous chatter, oblivious and not knowing head or tail of what was going on. Nico felt and noticed some of the campers giving him dirty looks, almost as though he was the one to blame for this mess. And in all honesty, Nico did feel responsible for what just happened. If he had known that this would happen, he would have done all he could to prevent it.

“Be very careful when you go in. Go in groups of five. No bronze weapons, silver only. We don’t know what he is capable of but remember; werewolves are highly dangerous and if you need to, do what you have to do.” Chiron eyed Nico sadly as he finally pushed his way through the crowd.

“Chiron, I must have a chance to speak with him,” begged Nico. “We need to capture him, not kill him.”

The old centaur sighed and looked up toward the stars. “I’m truly sorry, Nico, but I don’t think you can reason with him anymore than any of us can.”

“Please, I need to try.” A look of utter despair was on Nico’s face. The camp was treating Jason as nothing more than a mindless monster, when just a week ago, they treated him like one of their own. He needed to get to Jason, needed to convince him that he was more than just another monster.

“I can promise you nothing. You have my sympathies.” Chiron looked utterly crestfallen as he spoke but he began dividing the campers into groups. He never had to organise and send hunting parties after one of his students and unbeknownst to Nico, he wished that he never would have to ever again.

A dull, empty ache was gnawing away at Nico’s insides as he began to make his way into the forest. Will, the Stoll brothers and a Demeter camper walked alongside him, inching their way through the dense woods, their ears perked and their eyes wide open. From the corner of his eye, Nico saw that all their swords were drawn and Will’s fingers were on his bowstring. A haunting thought started to torment Nico. The thought of Chiron being right about Jason being beyond the point of reasoning felt like hammer blows reigning down on his head. He wondered whether being Jason’s mate meant that Jason would not hurt him. Jason had been so gentle and sweet all this time. What had changed him?

“Look out!” Will yelled as he pushed Nico out of the way. Out of nowhere, a tree came crashing down, followed by a bloodcurdling growl. Even as Nico tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword, he realised that it was too late. The Demeter camper was thrown high into the trees but she managed to cling onto the tangled branches. The Stolls, in a surprising display of courage, drew swords and charged toward Jason, darting through the brush while screaming away like banshees. A birch dryad, somehow oblivious to the battle that was taking place, peeked out of her tree and let out a dying scream when her tree was uprooted and knocked both brothers into the ground.

“Jason, stop!” Will notched his arrow and pulled back the bow-string, aiming at the werewolf. As Jason raised the birch to batter the Stolls into mush, Will let loose his arrow, and it found its mark. Jason snarled in pain as the tip penetrated his skin and embedded itself in the flesh of his elbow. Without even bothering to remove the arrow, Jason charged toward Will, still notching another arrow and rammed him into a nearby boulder. He held the son of Apollo by the throat, snarling as he drew his clawed hand back, about to rip his throat out.

“Jason! Please, I beg you! Stop!” A Stygian iron blade and a silver dagger laid on the snow-covered ground as Nico walked slowly and cautiously toward Jason. His face was streaked with tears of despair, this was not the Jason he knew but he had to try. “Jason, I don’t know what’s going on and I wish I knew but this is not you. You are a hero, Jason, not a monster. Please,” whispered Nico. “Please don’t do this to me.”

“Run!” Will wheezed through his constrained throat.

Nico ignored him. Instead as he drew closer to what had been his boyfriend, Nico reached up and laid his hand on Jason’s shoulder, coaxing him to let Will go. A minute of silence passed, with Will struggling to breathe and Nico hoping for Jason to regain his senses.

Jason let Will fall to the ground.

And slammed Nico’s head into the boulder.

In his last remaining seconds of consciousness, Nico heard a cold, sneering voice breaking the silence.

“I still live."


	7. Chapter 7

Nico knew he wasn’t dead. That he was certain of. For one, given his heritage, he was quite well acquainted with death and as far as he remembered, the Judgement Pavilion was not supposed to be a dark empty void without feeling. Not to mention there were brief, fleeting moments of consciousness rushing past him. A few seconds of a straw being stuck between his lips, tasting of nectar, another few with a dark figure towering over him. At one point, he heard Chiron, his voice muffled, in conversation with someone.

It was like being underwater, close to the surface but unable to surface for a breath. Nico wanted to break free but it was like someone had tied weights to his legs and he was stuck in the darkness. To Nico, it was like a dreamless sleep which was probably a good thing, since demigod dreams were never pleasant ones. Nico struggled to remember what happened, how he ended up in this condition. It was hard to do with his head drifting off into the darkness every few seconds. Then, as a glaring light began to taper between his eyelids, he finally tore away at the veil that clouded his eyes and opened them.

“Nico?” Hazel looked rather startled, no doubt shocked that her unconscious brother had seemingly jolted upright out of bed like Frankenstein’s monster. Her surprise was quickly replaced by joy as she got to her feet and gave him a tight hug. Nico was dazed, blinking excessively and plain speechless but eventually, a small smile appeared on his face and he patted his dear sister’s back.

“Sup, Hazel?”

She kissed him on the cheek before pulling away. “Piper called. She told me what had happened, to you, to Jason. I had to come down. Are you okay?”

Lifting his hand to his forehead, Nico felt a slight bump in his skin, concealed by a bandage. A swollen bruise the size of a baseball. It was like he had been hit in the head with a stray shot by a terrible pitcher instead of having his head smashed against a rock by a werewolf. He flinched when a slight jolt of mild pain travelled through him. “I’ve been better,” he muttered. He noticed his mouth was rather dry, so he reached out his hand for a plastic cup that sat on the table next to him. Hazel blocked him off.

“Chiron says that you’ve taken quite a bit of nectar. Anymore and you might explode. You’re thirsty?”

Nico nodded tiredly. “Yeah. Just need something to drink.”

Hazel handed him a mug, this one filled with warm water. As he gulped everything down his parched throat, Hazel sat back in her chair. Nico turned to look at her. “How long have I been out?”

“Two days. I came down here as fast as I could. Frank wanted to come but Reyna needed his help tracking down a family of giant badgers in downtown Honolulu. She said she might come down today or tomorrow." She leaned forward, with her hand on her knees and her eyes filled with concern. "Nico, I know it's a little too soon, but do you remember anything?"

A heavy sigh escaped Nico's parted lips. At first, his mind drew a blank. Things were rather fuzzy, but as he closed his eyes to concentrate, the fog began to lift. Bits and pieces of those few eventful days began to return to him, slowly and in a disorderly manner. It was difficult, but Nico managed to string them together. The chocolate picnic, Jason starting to acting weird, his attack on the mortals, his time with Nico in the basement, the vote and finally, Jason attacking Nico. Jason. Jason had attacked him.

"He attacked me," Nico whispered. He let his shoulders slump and laid back against the cool pillows. He couldn't believe it. He didn't know what to feel.

Yes, he was angry. He felt betrayed. Percy may never have returned his feelings for him, but at least he never smashed Nico's face into a rock. So much for all that guardian, protector and mate bullshit. His fists instinctively clenched in a tight ball. Maybe Jason knew from the beginning that he would eventually lose control, so he used Nico for his own pleasure while he could. Maybe he never saw Nico anything more than a gullible boy to toy with and to stick his dick into. Perhaps all those kisses and quiet moments when Jason whispered, “I love you” were nothing more than a shameless act to get into his pants. Nico wanted it to be true. It would very painful but so much simpler if it was.

Instead, a sob and a sniffle escaped him. His fists slowly unclenched as he fought to force the lump back down his throat. He felt a heart wrenching grief, not only for himself but also for Jason. The more he thought about it, the more the idea that Jason was using him sounded foolish. He knew and remembered how Jason had looked at him, how he had leaned in and how he had kissed him. There was nothing false or pretentious in each and every one of Jason’s acts. What had happened was beyond Jason’s control, something deep inside Nico assured him of that. Perhaps their greatest mistake was expecting Jason to be able to keep the monster inside of him restrained.

He wasn’t asking for much. He wasn’t asking to ride off into the sunset with Jason riding shotgun. All he wanted was something better for himself, preferably with his hand firmly held in Jason’s. True, demigods rarely had happy lives or even long ones. Even more so for a child of Hades, but it couldn’t hurt to dream. Nico had held many dreams, but like sandcastles by the sea, they were not built to last, meant to be washed away each time the tide rose. Then came along Jason. Stupid Roman boy. He just had to be there when Cupid forced the truth out of Nico. That moment, Nico felt naked, vulnerable, ashamed of what he was. And Jason had not judged him for it. Stupid Roman boy. The fool who had dragged him out of the shadows, made him feel accepted, loved, wanted. The fool who had fallen in love with him and had taken him as his own mate. Who exactly was the fool, Nico wondered to himself. Who was the fool to believe that the Fates would be kind enough to tie his and Jason’s strings together?

Nico felt a soft fabric dabbing at his cheeks. Hazel smiled sadly as she wiped away the torrential flow of tears from her brother’s face. He was never really expressive of his feelings and she felt that it was better to let it out instead of keeping it all inside. Nico closed his eyes, hiding his accursed tears. “Hazel, where’s Jason?”

“We lost him.” Will stood at the doorway, massaging his neck where the bruises Jason had left on him still remained. He glanced at Nico and Hazel before continuing, “He won’t be coming back.”

Immediately, Nico’s face grew dark with pain. He might as well have been stabbed in the chest, he wouldn’t have noticed. He never had the chance to say goodbye, the same thing as with Bianca. First Bianca, now Jason. Nico sighed and buried his head in his hands. He had done enough crying that day.

He turned his bloodshot eyes toward Will. “Where’s his stele?” he asked, his voice a lifeless monotone. “I need to see it.”

Will’s eyebrows shot up in curiosity behind the fringe of his blonde curls. “What stele?”

Nico’s face hardened instantly. “You didn’t even bury him?”

“Wait, what?” Will wore a confused look on his face, “Oh, yes…Umm, we didn’t actually kill him. He’s alive.”

Simultaneously, the two siblings slapped their palms to their foreheads. “Will!”

“I said we lost him! I meant that literally! As we don’t know where he is!”

“And you HAD to be so poetic about it?”

“Hey, my dad’s the god of poetry.”

Nico was on the verge of reciting a poem entirely made of long-forgotten curses and vulgarities but he held back his tongue. Perhaps he could present it another day. Irately, he demanded, “And how in my father’s name did you manage to lose him?”

Stumbling meekly into the room, Will pulled out a chair from the corner and sat facing Nico. “Well, after you got knocked out, Jason started going after everyone else. Landed half of us in the infirmary with injuries. He was going after Chiron when Clarisse managed to stop him, zapped him right in the chest with her spear. After that, he ran off into the woods and we lost him. We sent Mrs. O’Leary to track him but she lost his scent at sea. Probably escaped that way.”

“You think he swam away?” Nico asked, incredulous. “And no one tried to go after him?”

Will shrugged, shook his head. “Well, no…None of us were in the condition to do that and Chiron decided to let him go. We, umm, have a ‘kill on sight’ order from Mr. D anyway.” He paused to let it sink in. “I’m sorry, Nico, but I don’t think Jason’s…Jason anymore. We lost six dryads, four naiads and a satyr that night. He’s not coming back and if he does…”

Nico’s chin sunk into his chest. He had wanted to hope, wanted to believe that Jason was stronger than the beast. That he would control the wolf, not the wolf control him. He was wrong.

“I’m sorry, Nico. I really am.” Nico didn’t bother lifting his head to see Will leave. A turmoil of emotions was swirling inside him. Jason had innocent blood on his hands. Somehow, overnight, he had been transformed from the bravest of heroes to nothing more than a mindless beast of violence. Silently, Nico wished that he could just go back to sleep and wake up to find that everything was back to normal, that he would find himself in bed, with Jason keeping him comfortable with his warm body in a protective embrace. One overused bad joke, that was what his life felt like right then. First, his mother. Then, Bianca. Now, Jason. Nico had hoped that he would be able to lead something close to a happy life with the handsome Roman werewolf. Nothing more than a childish daydream, it had turned out to be.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Hazel ruffled her brother’s messy hair, trying to cheer him up. If there was anything that was consistently good in Nico’s life, it was probably his dear sister, Hazel. “I’ll tell Chiron you’re awake, and get you something to eat. Okay?”

Nico gave her a slight smile and nodded.

After Hazel had left the room, Nico sat up in his bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering where Jason had gone and what he was doing. He wanted to do something. He didn’t know what. He wanted to help Jason, but from what Will said, Jason was beyond help. He wanted to find Jason, but if he did, then what? In the middle of his thoughts, Nico felt something heavy pressing against his chest. The wolf pendant that Jason had gifted him still hanged on the string of his camp necklace. A relic of what could have been. Nico closed his eyes, but a tear still made its way through, coursing down his cheek. Broken hearts and shattered dreams were no stranger to him.

“I still live.”

Nico remembered those last words that were uttered to him just before he slipped away into unconsciousness. “I still live.” What had Jason mean by that? Then, slowly, a thought crept into his head. Jason had no reason to say those words. Unless it wasn’t Jason. His feet slipped onto the floor and he grabbed his hoodie that laid crumpled in a dark corner. Something bigger was at play, he felt it. Nico had sworn on the Styx, a vow to keep. He was going after Jason.


	8. Chapter 8

“I’m sorry, Nico. My girls and I have nothing to go on with either. And to tell the truth, I hope you are right, that you can help him. Because, if we find him before you do…you know what I must do.”

Nico stayed silent, holding his head in both his hands as Thalia finally ended the call with an audible sigh. Nico wondered what was going in her head. Even with the whirlpool of thoughts churning in his head, Nico felt for her. To bear the responsibility of putting her dear brother down because of what he had become was a cruel fate, one that no one needed to carry. When Nico dialled her number on the phone, he already suspected that she too would have no news to give him, but he had fervently held on to the hope that she did. A fruitless endeavour.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing from the Hunters. Nothing from the campers. Nothing from the dead. Nothing from Grover’s satyrs. Nothing in the mortal papers about ‘wolfman’ sightings. Nico squeezed his eyes while gritting his teeth, rubbing his forehead. Three days. Three days had gone past without a word of Jason. The constant ticking of the clock seemed to gleefully mock Nico even as he tried to calm his nerves. His cabin was a mess, a beggar’s den, with newspapers strewn everywhere. He had not slept all night; he could not sleep. Whenever he tried to lay his head on his pillow, the fresh scent of Jason that were embedded in the sheets seemed to haunt him, leading him on to double his efforts. Every lead, no matter how false or ludicrous, he had investigated, praying to the gods that he would uncover a clue somewhere at some time. Failure. Everything he had done was a failure.

At first, a slight tinge of red crept across his face, then it started to take on a darker shade of purple. His fists were clenching and unclenching as he tried to supress the fury that was boiling inside of him. He was angry, livid at his own failures. He could not shake off the feeling that he was failing Jason, failing to help him. The thought that he could have done something to help Jason if he had tried harder taunted him. The worst part was that he was effectively alone in his efforts. What use were looks and expressions of sympathy to him? He needed their help to find Jason, to bring him back and help him. All he got were shakes of the head and people telling him that Jason was no longer Jason.

A scream of pent-up anger and frustration was unleashed as he swept his work table clean of everything on it. Nico did not want to believe it, he refused to believe it. How could they? How could they give up so easily on Jason? His body slumped back into his chair, a solitary tear meandering down his cheek. He couldn’t fool himself, he knew the answer to that. Even he was starting to lose hope. The memory of Jason about to rip out Will’s throat kept replaying in his mind. Even if by some miracle, he managed to track Jason down, would Jason still be Jason? He knew was grasping at straws, desperately yearning for Jason to come back, human and sane again.

How much longer could he go on like this? Barely a day had passed but he knew he had a daunting task ahead of him. He wanted to be strong, to persevere but even the greatest of heroes had their limits.

A small voice at the back of his head seemed to whisper, “Why are you even trying? Who are you doing this for? For Jason? For yourself?”

“Shut up.” He didn’t know the answer to that. He needed a break, maybe a walk to calm his nerves.

In his fit of anger, Nico realised that he had unintentionally ruined a third of the lunch Hazel had bought for him. His fries laid scattered across the floor, blending in with the newspapers. Hiding away under his table, his cheeseburger remained wrapped up and unexposed. His Coke too was thankfully untouched. At least he could still salvage something to eat, Nico thought quietly to himself. He reached down and grabbed his cheeseburger, unwrapping it and taking a small bite as he opened the door and stepped outside.

Things were even quieter in the camp than usual, with barely a soul in sight. Nico could sense the satyrs and nymphs eyeing him warily from behind the trees. They were not at all delighted with the fact that he still insisted on finding Jason and bringing him back to the camp, despite having some of their number slaughtered at his hands. Nico pulled up his hoodie and continued walking. He kept his eyes to the ground, trying to ignore the dirty looks and angry whispers directed at him. He was used to this.

Several shards of broken windscreen glass remained on the frozen ground, marking the spot where his nightmare started. The car wrecks had long been removed, though the skid marks on the road remained exposed. Nico stood there for a moment, quietly finishing the rest of his burger. He had little to go on, the supposed screaming sound and Jason’s last words to him. “I still live.” Nico kept repeating those words in his head, again and again, like a stereo kept on loop. It was Jason’s voice but yet, at the same time, it wasn’t Jason’s voice. Nico had no idea how to describe it. There was simply something un-Jason-like in Jason’s voice.

Nico finally finished his burger. He was about to turn back when something caught his eye. Two sets of skid marks marked the road, obviously belonging to the two cars that Jason had attacked. A third set however seemed out of place. Nico’s brows were furrowed as he crossed the road to investigate. Something had been parked on the side of the road before being driven off in a hurry, heading east. That was what all Nico could deduce. An inconclusive piece of information with so many possible explanations. Yet, another dead end. His face grew dark with pain as he started to walk back to his cabin. Each dead end he was meeting seemed to eat away at his will to continue his search for Jason. How long more he could keep doing this he didn’t know.

"So...anything?" Hazel asked curiously as she hurried around the cabin, clearing up the mess that her brother had created. She had decided to stay on the camp to take care of Nico, not that he needed it but he did appreciate the company and support.

Shaking his head, Nico threw himself onto his bed and buried his face in the sheets. He still could smell Jason, almost as if he was in the room with him. It was pure torture. "Nothing important," he muttered softly.

Hazel sat on the side of the bed, her gaze tethered to the ground below. Nico knew that she had something to say, but she took her time to compose herself. After several minutes of silence, she finally spoke her mind.

"Nico, why are you doing this to yourself? I know you're trying to help him but...after what he did to you, I don't think he's -"

"Hazel. If you were me and Frank was Jason, wouldn't you try to help him too?" He turned to look at her, his eyes haunted by an inner pain. Hazel noticed that the shattered look he had when they rescued him in Rome was making a comeback and it made her worry even more. "I don't know what I'm doing but I know that he would do the same for me. I have to do this."

He paused to compose himself, though his throat was already starting to constrict, as if he was choking on something. His voice was increasingly cracking but he continued, "You know how it's like, Hazel, to finally love someone who actually loves you back. I love him, and I know he actually loved...me." He closed his eyes to hold back the dam of tears that threatened to breach. It didn’t. He hated having to use the past tense, as if Jason was already dead.

"To feel safe and sound, wanted and cared for, I wanted this for so long. I had a crush on Percy, right? And every time I saw him kissing Annabeth, I honestly felt something withering and dying inside of me. Every time. Then, Jason...Jason came along. I know it’s cheesy, but, that night he kissed me, something inside me...I don’t know how to put it. It's my fault, you know. If I'd known that this would happen...I must find him, Hazel. I must help him. I know, just know that none of this is his fault. Something has gone wrong and I must find out what and fix it. If I can't save him...I'll stop him, from hurting himself or anyone else."

The wounded look in his eyes drew Hazel to him to wrap her arms around her brother and gave him a tight hug. “I’m sorry this had to happen to you. You deserve so much better,” she said quietly as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Given how genuinely good Nico was, it was extremely unfair that he be plagued by such rotten luck. Perhaps the Fates were up on Olympus, making bets on how far they could push Nico to the brink. If that was true, a group of old ladies were up for an ass-kicking by a very angry daughter of Pluto.

“I didn’t deserve him either,” Nico whispered to himself.

A quiet knock on the cabin door snagged Nico’s attention. He wasn’t expecting any guests, and neither was Hazel. He stumbled off his bed and walked over to the door, opening it to a familiar face.

“Juniper?”

The dryad looked strangely frightened, with her eyes darting back and forth as though she was on the lookout for someone. Her eyes met Nico’s and instantly, he knew she had something urgent on her mind.

“I wasn’t sure whether I should tell you, but Grover said I should. I heard you were...Can we talk inside?”

Nico stepped aside and let her into the cabin. Her innocent but scared eyes seemed to remind him of a frightened doe caught in the headlights of a speeding monster truck. She was stammering incessantly, trying to stutter out more than one sentence in one go. Hazel stood up and gave her chair to her. She needed it more than Hazel did.

“Juniper, this is Hazel, my sister.”

“I know you. Percy said that you are the nicest dryad he knows,” Hazel smiled.

Hearing that, a tinge of green coloured Juniper's cheeks. The worried look returned almost immediately however and she turned to face Nico. “My friends said that you’re looking for clues about Jason. Is that true?”

Nico nodded.

“I didn’t think that it was connected but now that I think about it, it might be.”

“What might be?” She definitely had something to tell him. Nico was more than interested to hear it.

“Just before he disappeared, I was walking by the sea when this boat, a black speedboat, came by.”

“Did you see who was in it?”

Juniper shook her head before continuing. “It was too far. There was someone in it, but I couldn’t see much. I thought it was just another mortal boat passing by. Sometimes they get lost and ask us for directions. This one didn’t. Just went up behind some rocks and stopped.”

Nico crossed his fingers and his heart seemed to increase its beat. This actually seemed to be going somewhere for once. “What happened then?”

“Nothing. At least until Jason broke out. I ran from my tree when Jason knocked you out. I was hiding with my cousins, the oaks, when I saw a light coming from behind the rocks.” She paused and scratched her head, trying to remember as many details as possible. Nico half-expected a bulb to suddenly light up above her head when she continued. “No, no. A splash first, then the light. After that, I think I heard a boat engine starting. I didn’t look. I was too frightened. He killed Birch and Ash, you know. The next time I checked, the boat was gone.”

“Did you see where it went?” Nico wanted to deny it but despite his growing excitement, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat annoyed that she only decided to bring this up so late. The nervous, small girl look she had though made Nico calm down a little. She was already giving him a lot of help and a bundle of hope after so many dead ends.

“It went back the way it came. That way.” She pointed in the direction of the east. East. Nico’s eyes widened. Finally. It was a small lead, but for once, a solid one. Perhaps he would find nothing. Perhaps it was all a coincidence, the boat and the tire tracks. He didn’t care. He needed to go.

“Thanks, Juniper. Thanks a lot.”

Nico was a whirlwind, rushing about his room, throwing necessities into his knapsack and stuffing them to fit. He really needed a bigger bag but he had no time to stop by a Wal-Mart. He was sheathing his sword on his back when he felt Hazel’s hand in his.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Hazel, I need you to stay behind. It might be dangerous.”

Unsurprisingly, she looked rather offended at his words. “Nico! I have fought Giants! I can take care of myself!”

“I know, I know. My bad,” Nico apologised quickly. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. “I do need you to stay behind, to cover for me. Chiron would never allow me to go after Jason. Just say that I went to visit Dad in the Underworld. Please, Hazel. I need you to do that for me.”

She said nothing. Instead, she reached her hand into her side pocket and fished out a small wad of cash before forcefully stuffing it into his closed hands. They both shared the same stubborn streak. She opened her arms and let him give her a goodbye hug. “Stay safe. Don’t do anything stupid. Bring him home, Nico.”

“I will.”


	9. Chapter 9

Nico tightened his grip around the cold silver hilt of his dagger as he continued walking. He was well aware that he was being followed, with the sound of feet trudging through the snow a yard or two behind him. Every time he glanced behind, the person or thing that was following him stopped. It certainly knew how to make itself scarce, but Nico was already on full alert. At first, he thought himself paranoid but it was common knowledge for all demigods to never shrug off a possible threat.

The sun was already setting when Nico started to cross a long stretch of beach. This was the perfect place for Nico to confront whoever or whatever was tailing him, for the lack of trees and foliage would leave him, her or it rather exposed. He took his time however, seemingly fiddling with his fingers while slowing down his walking speed so that his tail could catch up with him. The sound of trudging feet came closer and closer. As soon as he knew that he was within striking range, Nico spun round, drew his sword and dagger and gritted his teeth.

“Come on out!” he growled.

The donkey blinked.

Nico blinked back. He felt somewhat peculiar, drawing his weapons like a trigger-happy cop to find that his tail was nothing more than a literal ass. But what was a donkey doing here by the sea in the middle of winter? In New York? Nico didn’t sheathe his sword. From his experience, he knew that there were three possibilities that explained his current situation. One, the donkey was a monster that would try to kill him. Two, the donkey was a monster that would try to kill him and eat him. Three, it really was an ass.

Nico shot his fiercest glare at the animal to coax it to back off. Normally, animals kept away from him due to the aura of death that surrounded him. There was a reason why Nico never really spent much time near the stables. The donkey just continued staring at him. Then, it sneezed.

“Shoo,” said Nico.

The donkey didn’t budge. It seemed content with engaging in a staring contest with him.

“Go. Away.”

An annoyed bray was the donkey’s response.

 _Great_.

Nico gave up and sheathed his sword. He had no time to play with farm animals. Darkness was already falling and he had not caught sight of any speedboats whatsoever, black or not. He needed to hurry or it would be another day lost. Perhaps the ass would eventually tire of this unfriendly teenager who smelt like death and had no carrots with him. 

He continued walking, trying to ignore the donkey that continued to follow him. Nico wasn’t sure if he should be embarrassed that he could raise the dead and bend the earth to his will but couldn’t get a donkey to canter off back to its pen. He wondered whether he could use it to carry his knapsack. His back was starting to ache after all. 

Nico stopped and turned to face the donkey.

“Are you hungry?”

“Hee-haw.”

The son of Hades rolled his eyes but he laid his knapsack down and rummaged through it. He had quite a few packets of beef jerky but donkeys were obviously not carnivores. There was a loaf of bread but Nico wanted to save it for himself. A miserable packet of peanuts laid at the bottom of his bag, squashed into road-kill. He could part with it.

“Here.” Nico tore open the packet and poured its contents onto a tuft of grass nearby. “Now will you stop following me? I’m not Old McDonald.”

The donkey seemed more interested in the peanuts than Nico however, which was Nico’s intention anyway. Nico picked up his bag and started walking again. There were lights in the distance a mile or two away, an industrial building of some sort. As he walked, Nico wondered whether anybody noticed his absence and whether Hazel was actually covering for him. Throughout his time in the camp, he always did wonder whether he had any place there. He was after all, the first Hades camper. Solace said he did but Jason certainly confirmed it. Jason. Nico wrapped his fingers around his wolf pendant and took a glance at it. It certainly was beautiful. “Like you,” Jason had said. He closed his eyes and sighed. He continued walking. 

As he approached the rundown building, Nico noticed two things. One, tethered to a small pier just outside was a boat, bobbing around in the water. A black speedboat. Nico’s heart seemed to skip a beat. Two, there was someone, or rather something, still on the boat. A fully-grown telekhine had its slippery back facing Nico, fumbling with the engine. Nico quietly crept forward and hid behind a tree. It was not long before the telekhine finally got off the boat and disappeared into the building, muttering angrily to itself. The heavy metal doors slammed shut and Nico could hear the bolt being turned.

Checking to see no one was watching from the windows, Nico dashed out of cover toward the speedboat. An oil-stained rag was draped on the exposed engine. Nico’s eyes widened as he picked it up and examined it. “Gods...” His voice was nearly a whisper.

The orange fabric had been mostly stained with motor oil, but this was unmistakably a t-shirt. A camp t-shirt. Jason’s t-shirt. Nico nearly went weak at the knees when he spotted a string and a few beads scattered on the bottom of the boat. This lead had actually paid off. Jason had been on this boat but why? And what had happened to him? Nico’s face hardened as he pocketed the beads and the string before drawing his sword. He had a lot of questions for the telekhine and he had no intention of waiting any further to get his answers. 

A window had been left slightly agape, giving Nico a literal window of opportunity to slip into the building. The abandoned rusting machinery seemed to indicate that the place used to be a factory or a mill of some kind. Nico’s lip twitched when the grate beneath him creaked a little louder than he expected. His eyes darted about, half-expecting the telekhine to leap down and attack. Nothing happened. Nico’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the shuffling of webbed feet coming from behind a door, slightly left ajar. His options were limited. He needed the telekhine alive. He needed to find out what it had done to Jason. Moving as stealthily as he could through the shadows, Nico crept to the side of the door. Just as he was about to push it open, the shuffling stopped. Nico rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming when he heard a low, guttural growl just on the other side. 

“Demigod scum!” The snarling telekhine threw open the door and snapped at Nico who leapt back a safe distance from its large, sharp teeth. Yellow drool dripped and slobbered from its wet maw. “I could smell your filthy blood from a mile away!”

“Funny,” Nico growled. “You don’t smell like a bed of roses either, è cane bagnato.”

“Brave words, from the fool about to die!” The telekhine roared and charged forward clumsily, its webbed feet were obviously not meant for sprinting. Nico stood his ground, hand tightening around sword hilt as he braced himself for the incoming attack. As the monster finally lunged forward, with fangs bared, Nico swung his sword as hard as he could and slammed the flat side of the blade against its skull. He heard the sickening sound of bone cracking as the telekhine crashed limply against the side of a furnace.

“Brothers! We’ve a demigod in here!” the wounded monster hollered.

 _Brothers?_

Then, only did Nico remember, telekhines lived in packs.

A door behind him crashed open as seven telekhines burst through, all fully-grown and towering over him. They quickly surrounded Nico, blocking off any escape route he previously had. Nico didn’t flinch. He had dealt with worse. One monster, probably the least intelligent (and one of the ugliest), came a little too close for comfort and was the first to fall when Nico swung his blade in a deadly arc, the Stygian iron absorbing the monster’s essence.

“I did not come here to fight! I came here for information! Give me what I want and I shall spare you all!” The part of him that wanted to live screamed at him to run away. The remaining parts told that part to shut up. He wasn't a coward. And he had no plans to leave without getting what he wanted.

The telekhines immediately hooted with laughter. They started to close in on him but kept a wary eye on his sword. “You think we fear you, child of the Underworld? What makes you think that we will talk? Surrender now and we shall grant you a quick death. Fight and you shall die slowly and painfully.”

Nico smiled defiantly. They didn’t seem to take him as a serious threat. He was going to show them how wrong they were. “I think not.” He then stomped his foot on the ground. A massive wall of earth burst out of the ground, blocking off the four telkhines that were behind him and leaving him to deal with two. 

They bared their fangs and attacked. Nico grunted and found himself fending off both his attackers. He needed to finish them off before the rest of their brethren caught up with them. He chose one, the shorter monster. An old tactic taught to him by Jason when up against multiple enemies.

He very deliberately fixated his gaze on the monster.

_Watch out for the others but concentrate on one. Target him. Let him know who you’re going for._

A wicked chuckle escaped him when he saw the monster very obviously swallowing down a lump in its throat. "Paura?"

 _Execute_.

Darting forward, Nico struck, coming at the telekhine, who was a little too slow – who stared down at Nico’s blade as it thrust into its belly. Even as its essence was being devoured, Nico withdrew his sword and turned his attention to the remaining telekhine, now fully alarmed. It still came forward, somewhat hesitantly, hoping to flank him. A growl was followed by a lunge but Nico narrowly sidestepped it and slashed his blade cleanly through its neck.

Nico was turning around when he screamed in excruciating pain. His vision hazed momentarily. A telekhine had sunk its sharp teeth into the flesh of his upper right arm. Jolts after jolts of pain surged through Nico’s body as teeth tore through muscle and ligament. He tried switching his sword to his left hand but just as he was about to strike, another telekhine grabbed his left arm and pulled it back roughly, nearly dislocating it. The two remaining telekhines, including the first telekhine advanced on him as he thrashed about in pain, their jaws stretched into a triumphant and gruesome grimace. 

“And now, we shall feast! Say your prayers to your father for you will soon be meeting –“

The telekhine never got to finish its sentence. A window shattered as a spear penetrated the glass and embedded itself in the telekhine’s back. The monster seemed plain shocked, but he didn’t really have time to react. The spear clattered on the ground as soon as the monster burst into a shower of dust. Nico’s mouth went agape for a moment. A Roman pilum.

“Nico! We’ve come to help!” Will smashed through another window, bow drawn and two arrows notched. His arrows sliced through the air and in a magnificent display of marksmanship, found themselves stuck between the eyes of the two telekhines that held onto Nico. Finally free, Nico fell to his knees, groaning and wincing in pain. He couldn’t move either arm without his whole body burning with pain. Through the shattered window, a horse burst through with its rider. 

“Reyna?” Nico gasped.

“Will, take care of him!” Sparing Nico a worried glance, the praetor of New Rome drew her spatha and charged toward the remaining telekhines. One telekhine, the one Nico first encountered, saw where things were going and decided it wanted to live a little longer than the rest of its brothers. It ran with its tail literally between his legs. The other tried to follow but was immediately cut down by Reyna.

Nico stumbled onto his feet. Blood flowed freely from his wounds but the adrenaline drove him on. The sight of the warm red liquid made Nico's head spin. His stained palms grew clammy as the surviving telekhine got further and further away. He couldn’t let it escape. If it did, his final lead to Jason would escape his grasp.

“Reyna! Will! Stop him! I need him alive!” 

The telekhine was already on the pier, planning to escape on its boat. Without a word more and without even moving from where he stood, Will notched his bow with an arrow that had a small bag attached to it and let loose. As soon as the arrow struck the monster, a cloud of noxious gas enveloped it and seconds later, it collapsed onto the planks, snoring loudly and sleeping as soundly as a baby.

“Nico! Are you mad?! Going out alone like this?!” Reyna dismounted and stalked angrily toward Nico who laid on the ground, letting Will clean his wounds.

“How did you find me?” 

“Hazel told us. She was worried for you. And rightfully so.” She softened her glare as she knelt down by his side and gently squeezed Nico’s shoulder. “Don’t ever do this again.”

“Right.” Nico couldn’t help shooting her a grimace even as his wounds were being painfully stitched up. She was to him what he was to Hazel. An unofficial big sister. “Thanks for coming.”

Reyna glanced at the still snoring telekhine. “Start from the beginning, Nico. Tell me everything. Then, together, we shall make the beast talk.”

Will fed Nico a small piece of ambrosia before turning his eyes toward her. “You aren’t going to torture it, right?” His smile was a nervous one.

“I have my ways.”

* * *

 

“Strike me down, cowardly ones! Or are you afraid? I shall never talk to your kind!”

Reyna said nothing but continued staring at the monster. She didn't blink, didn't smile and quite possibly, didn't breathe. The telekhine kept thrashing around even as it swung around in its chains, hanged from the ceiling like a living pendulum. For the past few minutes, the only thing it had been doing was scream threats at her, Nico and Will. Nico knew better than to interrupt her though. She had her way when it came to getting answers and she didn’t like to be disturbed.

“What’s she doing?” Will whispered.

Nico hushed him.

Reyna cracked her fingers and got off her chair. Her hand was on the hilt of her sword as she strolled up to the telekhine and went face-to-face with it. At first, the telekhine tried snapping at her but she didn’t move a muscle. She just stared, a fiery yet cold stare that could make even the most stubborn monster feel afraid. A minute passed. Then, another. The telekhine stopped thrashing about and just stared back at Reyna. Her authority asserted, she spoke.

“Look. We don’t want to be here as much as you do. Answer our answers and we’ll let you go. I swear on this on the Styx.”

The telekhine growled but its eyes were darting between the open door and Reyna's Imperial gold sword. Nico could see that it was weighing its options. Talk or die. Not much of a choice unless it was suicidal. After a cold silence, it finally chose the former.

“What do you want to know?”

Nico stepped forward and reached into his pocket. His hands shook as he took Jason’s necklace beads and he showed it to the telekhine. He took in a deep breath to clear his thoughts. “You were outside the camp some nights ago. Why?”

The telekhine snorted. “We were paid to wait and pick up a werewolf."

“Paid?” Nico’s eyebrows furrowed together. "Who hired you?”

“Some guy, at least I think he was a guy. Wore a mask. Quite creepy actually, with just two black holes for eyes. He paid very well though, so I didn’t care.”

“Did he give a name?”

“Nope. I just took his money, no questions asked. Not that I wanted to talk with him. Very fussy guy. Kept complaining and whining.”

“Was he driving anything?”

“A car. I think it was a rental. Was smoking when it got here."

“And the werewolf. These beads were his?”

The telekhine nodded. “Yup. Just tore his necklace once I picked him up. Called them ‘disgusting, childish toys’.”

Nico felt the pendant that hanged around his neck grow a little heavier. He looked away for a moment to process what he had just heard. Had Jason been on this the whole time? He took in a deep breath and continued, “This werewolf. What was he like? Blonde fur? Blue eyes?”

The monster’s eyebrow was raised. “Yes to the blonde fur, but blue eyes? No, no. Not blue eyes. Yellow. Yes, definitely yellow.”

Time seemed to stop around Nico. Reyna knew when people were lying but she too looked surprised at the telekhine’s words. The telekhine wasn't lying.

_Yellow eyes. Jason’s eyes were always blue. Perhaps it wasn’t Jason who had attacked him. But who was it then? And where was Jason?_

_“_ You brought him back here. Then, what?”

“The masked guy took him. Said that he was late. There was also something about catching a flight within the hour.”

Will added, “Did they say which flight? And what time was this?”

“No reason to. About one in the morning. Can I go now? That’s basically all I know. I’ve nothing more to say.”

As Reyna cut the telekhine’s chains and forced it out of the room, Nico slumped weakly in the corner. He just sat there, blinking as Will started to light up a furnace and unrolled three sleeping bags. He didn’t know what to think. His chest felt tight, like there was a stone resting on it. He had come looking for answers but now that he had them, he had even more questions. 

_Who was this masked man? What did he want? Where had he and Jason gone? Was the werewolf even Jason? If he was, why was he doing this? And if he wasn’t, where was Jason? What was going on?_

“Nico.” Reyna softly whispered. “You need to rest. Wounds heal faster that way. We’ll talk things over in the morning.”

The son of Hades was too caught up in his thoughts. He did however let Reyna help him slip into a sleeping bag. He was in good hands. She zipped him up and gently stroked his hair. As he finally drifted off to sleep, his hands were clenched tightly around the beads that used to hang on the chest of his beloved. His journey was far from over. It had just begun. He didn't care. He was going to find him. Wherever Jason was, he was going to find him. And if there was someone behind all this, someone was going to pay dearly.


	10. Chapter 10

A small contented smile was on Nico’s face as he wriggled backward until he felt Jason’s unusually warm body pressing against his back. Both their naked bodies were covered with a thin sheen of sweat that glimmered in the dim sliver of moonlight. Jason chuckled lightly as he realised his mate’s intentions and he wrapped his strong arms around Nico before kissing the top of his head. His embrace was tight, loving and possessive.

Nico didn’t mind. He relished the fact that he could feel and even hear the sound of Jason’s heartbeat, strong and steady with each breath he took. Never had he imagined that he would eventually have someone to call his own and to belong to someone. Never again would he have to spend his nights alone, trying to pick up the pieces of what remained of his heart. Never again would he have to spend his days in the shadows, ashamed of what and who he was. Jason was his friend, lover and guardian. Nothing could ever change that.

As their legs entwined together, Nico could feel Jason’s hot breath tickling his ear, sending lovely tingles up his spine. Jason rested his chin on his mate’s shoulder and just let out a satisfied sigh. Neither of them spoke. Words were not enough to describe the feelings that either one of them were experiencing right that moment. That was why Nico’s breath hitched when he felt Jason’s lips pressing gently against his neck. As he planted a fleeting but loving kiss on Nico’s unblemished skin, he quietly whispered, loud enough just for Nico to hear, “I love you.”

The son of Hades’ eyes fluttered open. He could feel his eyes brimming with tears but he blinked them away. The shedding of tears would bring him no closer to finding Jason. Reyna’s and Will’s sleeping bags were empty and limp, like old snakeskins. The two of them were nowhere to be seen. Nico’s eyes travelled down further scanning the room for them when his heart skipped a beat. A small figure was watching over the small fire that remained alight in the furnace, poking and prodding at it to keep it burning.

_A monster?_

The figure turned its eyes toward Nico. A familiar face, resembling that of a young girl but with eyes burning with warm fires that had seen millennia gone by.

“Lady Hestia?” Nico started to fidget with the zip of his sleeping bag to bow to the goddess but she raised her hand, gesturing him to stop his efforts.

“No need to bow, Nico. You need all the rest that you can get, for your journey will take you further than you can imagine.” As she spoke, Nico noticed an empty packet that laid folded up next to her. The same packet of peanuts he had given the donkey the previous evening. Nico then recalled what Hestia’s sacred animal was.

“My lady, it’s a great honour to be in your presence again,” said Nico. He wasn’t entirely sure whether he ought to continue talking to her wrapped up in his sleeping bag but she wasn’t the definition of fussy, so he continued laying on the ground like a cocooning caterpillar.

Hestia’s eyes turned back to the furnace but she continued talking. “Your tears and prayers have not gone unnoticed by your father, whom despite his heavy responsibilities, does have some care for his children. He has requested that I help him by providing you with some level of guidance, for you and your compatriots lack direction for now.”

Out of nowhere, a business card appeared in mid-air and landed right next to Nico’s head. Rather strangely, the card was in a dyslexic-friendly font which meant Nico could read it without boiling half his brain:

Otto Lycus,

Wolf’s World of Wrestling,

Port Authority Bus Terminal,

625 8th Avenue, New York.

_A wrestling class?_

Nico’s eyebrows shot up. He couldn’t really connect the dots between finding Jason and a wrestling class. He wasn’t quick to dismiss this piece of information though. The ‘wolf’ in the name of the class had caught Nico’s attention. Perhaps it did have something that could help him on his search. It didn’t chase away the doubt anyhow.

“My lady,” said Nico. “I’m sorry if I sound rude but what am I supposed to find here?”

“A soul that has escaped the Underworld in the chaos of the Gigantomachy. The man you seek is a master of much, including of thievery. Seek him out, employ his services and the path to the one you truly seek will be straightened for you. Be warned though, his services are not easily obtained by all.”

“Oh. So...I won’t have to learn wrestling?” Nico was imagining himself being crushed to death under a man pile of sweaty, brawny WWE wrestlers. He glanced at his own biceps. He was quite fit for his age, with some visible muscle but he was definitely no wrestler like Clarisse or any of her siblings.

“You’ll see.”

_Oh, crap._

Hestia rose to her feet before ambling toward Nico. She knelt beside him and passed her hand over his forehead tenderly, as one might soothe a child to sleep. “You grieve. You fear that the one you yearn for may be no more.”

A despairing look washed over Nico’s face even as he tried to hide it. Despite his best efforts, Hestia noticed.

“Faith, my child, faith. Have faith in the ones you hold closest to your heart,” she cooed. Her brown eyes seemed to be gazing right into Nico’s, seeing through him and studying him. Something about her seemed to bring back long forgotten memories to Nico, of his own mother.

“Stay strong, valiant one. For all the troubles and tribulations that you have faced and overcome, the Fates will surely provide recompense. A family to call your own, with the one who calls you his own.” As she spoke, an image appeared in Nico’s head. Both he and Jason were in it, slightly older in their early twenties. Jason was kneeling before Nico, planting a kiss on his knuckles and as he rose, Nico pushed him against a wall and kissed him passionately on the lips. A sparkle entered Nico’s eyes when he saw a golden ring slipped around his finger. An engagement ring. Another image followed, this one less detailed. All Nico saw was a hand clasping another hand. Both were worn and wrinkled with age. At first, they held on to each other tightly but slowly, one hand slipped out of the other before falling still. A golden ring was slipped around the ring finger.

“Take pride in the knowledge that I will be honoured to serve and tend to the hearth of your home. But that must come later. Now, rise. Time waits not even for a god.”

Nico shot up out of his sleeping bag, gasping for air. He bent his head, conflicting feelings stirring inside. While he had a lump in his throat, he couldn’t deny that a sudden surge of elation was overwhelming him. What he had seen was what he really wanted. If he had needed any further motivation to go after Jason, this was it. He hurriedly unzipped his sleeping bag and made his way to the door, where he could hear Reyna and Will in quiet discussion.

“- and get us all on a no-fly list forever. I don’t think the TSA will just let us walk out with that sort of information,” Will grumbled.

“What do you suggest then?” asked Reyna. She was sharpening her sword as she spoke. “The telekhine said that they needed an hour to get to the airport. So, we get the data logs of all the airports within the area, narrow down the departure flights at the time and we’ll at least know where to start looking.”

“Why are we even doing this? I’m quite sure Chiron will want me to bring Nico back to the camp, especially if he finds out what we’re up to.”

“And you think Nico will just stop looking for Jason? Please. I was with him in Europe. I can swear to you that he’ll rather die than give up on his friends so easily. And we’re talking about Jason here. Definitely not just a friend. He means a lot more to Nico than you can imagine. Sure, bring him back. He’ll just end up shadow-travelling out of there anyway. And he’ll probably leave for good if you don’t let him. Don’t you want to try to help him at least?”

Will sighed. “I do, but it’s not really him I’m worried about.”

“I have worked with Jason for a long time. He’s a good person,” Reyna insisted.

“So was Luke.”

“Umm, morning?” Nico pushed open the door and walked up to the two of them. He noticed how they looked at each other, probably wondering how much of their conversation had been overheard. “So, what’s for breakfast?”

Reyna smiled and tossed him a sandwich she had made for him, the slightly toasted bread oozing with peanut butter and jelly. He sat down on an overturned crate between them.

“So, Nico,” said Will. “We were just talking about...stuff. And we were wondering if you have an idea where we should be going next? Because Reyna here –“

“Back to the city. We might be going wrestling.”

Reyna and Will blinked.

“What?!”

* * *

  
“Are you stupid or what?!”

Nico’s quirked his mouth in annoyance. That particular cab driver clearly wanted to be a NASCAR driver, given how he nearly turned Nico, Reyna and Will into roadkill. It was only a matter of time before he ended up racing in the Underworld. Nico was obviously not a native New Yorker, but from what he had heard from Percy and others, if NYC was the Big Apple, then the Port Authority Bus Terminal was its worm.

“Come on. Let’s just look for the place and get over with it.” Reyna grabbed Nico’s hand and hurried into the building together with Will. Nico couldn’t help feeling a little sick, smelling the gaseous fumes of a dozen buses, waiting for passengers. Reyna and Will weren’t looking too good either, turning green at the sight of cockroaches crawling on the floors of restaurants. This was probably the only place on earth where cockroaches would beg to be rescued from this disgusting hellhole.

The place they were looking for was tucked away at the end of a row of shuttered shops. The marquee wasn’t lighted up, but the door wasn’t locked either. As soon as they opened the door, a small bell above it rang. Nico’s eyes darted around, looking for signs of life. The front desk was unkempt and dusty, as if no one had sat at it since forever. A ‘Best Teacher Ever’ mug sat on its corner, unwashed but by the look of it, recently used. Nico checked the business card again. They were at the right place, but there seemed to be no one around.

“Hello?” called Will. Nico heard a cough just as the door at the back swung open.

“Students!” The three of them almost threw up simultaneously. A curly-haired man, perhaps in his late-forties, stepped out dressed in a far too revealing leather leotard. Needless to say, Nico would have really appreciated it if a censor bar just dropped from the sky.

A forest of hair grew on his bare chest, probably the habitat of a thousand undiscovered species. A glorious moustache drooped heavily above his broad smile. “Welcome! Welcome! It’s been a very, very long time since I had my last student. I’m Mr. Lycus, though you can just call me Otto! And may I know your names?”

Doing his best to avoid looking at Mr. Lycus’ far too prominent crotch, Nico stepped forward.

_Did he buy his leotard from a sports shop or a porn shop?_

“I’m Nico di Angelo. These are my friends, Will and Reyna.”

“Glorious! The more, the merrier! When do you plan to start your classes?”

“We don’t.”

Despite how questionably dressed Mr. Lycus was, Nico couldn’t help feeling sorry for him as he watched his cheerful smile vanish to be replaced with a look of bitter disappointment. “Oh. You’re not students? Oh.” His shoulders slumped further, making Nico feel ridiculously guilty for not much reason. “I was probably overexcited, sorry about that. So, what can I help you with then?”

Nico reached into his pocket and retrieved the business card. He held it out and gave it to the man. “Hestia sent us. She said you can help us in our quest.”

An instant change came upon Mr. Lycus as he cracked his fingers. A hostile glimmer seemed to grow in his eyes as he said noticeably coldly, “Oh? You’re demigods, aren’t you?”

Reyna nodded.

“Did the Lady say anything else about me?” Nico felt somewhat alarmed at the expressionless yet stony look on Mr. Lycus’ face but he kept his cool.

_This was just a man. Nothing to worry about._

“She said you’re a very talented man.”

“And nothing else?” Nico looked back at Reyna and Will. They looked back. The serpentine look that the man was giving was sending chills down Nico’s back.

“You won’t help us that easily.”

“And she’s correct,” said Mr. Lycus. He rested his shoulders on his desk. “I’ll cut you a deal. I’ll help you. But you must impress me.”

Will’s eyebrows furrowed instantly. “Impress how?”

“Wrestling, of course! I’m Autolykos, wrestling legend and teacher of Heracles himself!”

“Wait,” Reyna interrupted. “You want us to wrestle with you?”

“Nope. Just him.”

Nico’s eyes widened. Autolykos’ finger was pointed right at him.

_Oh, crap._

Reyna immediately opened up her money pouch and drew a handful of drachmas. “Can we just pay you to help us?”

“Nope.” Autolykos folded his arms and glared at Nico.

“How about I wrestle with you instead? Nico was hurt in a fight yesterday. He needs time to recover,” said Will.

Autolykos shook his head. “Nope. Don’t bother offering me any more deals. Either he fights me or you all can leave empty-handed.”

“I’ll do it.” Nico clenched his fists and closed his eyes. There was no other way around this obstacle. If this meant bringing him a step closer to Jason, it was worth it.

Autolykos smirked. “Go to the back, all of you.”

As Nico followed him, Reyna grabbed his arm and pulled him aside so that she and Will could talk to him. “Nico, are you sure about this?”

Nico wanted to say that he was, that he was confident of victory and that he was going to kick Autolykos’ butt into oblivion and save Jason from whichever castle he was in. He didn’t.

“I’m not, but I’ve to try.”

“Dude,” whispered Will. “This guy’s a legend. And Clarisse always whoops your ass. And this guy would serve hers on a plate. You can’t be serious?”

“What choice do I have?” Nico hissed. He was taking in heavy breaths to calm his nerves but he could feel an entire swarm of butterflies in his stomach. Part of him wanted to back out and try to look for another alternative, but Hestia herself had sent him here, she had to have a good reason. He just had to take the pain and do his best.

“Are you guys coming in or not?” Autolykos stood at the end of a small wrestling ring, grinning widely.

Nico set his foot into the ring.

“No shirts!”

Nico sighed. He hated stripping for anyone, except for Jason.

The things he would do for Jason.

_For Jason._


	11. Chapter 11

“Pathetic. These are the heroes that are being churned out today? Weaklings.” Autolykos spat in disgust before leaning against a ring post.

“Are you mad?! He’s just a boy!” Reyna screamed in fierce exasperation as she dashed toward Nico who just laid motionless on the ground. Beads of perspiration were forming on her forehead when she flipped him over, face up. Her hands shook with uncontrollable rage at the sight of Nico’s injuries. “You monster...” She had seen far worse nightmares, but to see Nico being pounded into pulp was never on her bucket list. The veins in her neck were throbbing dangerously when Will joined her side. Together, they carefully pulled Nico to the side where Will could actually patch him up. 

Nico winced in pain, or at least he felt like wincing as he tried to open his eyes. His right eye was terribly swollen, as was the entirety of the right side of his face. Autolykos had held back no punches when he kept throwing Nico head-first onto the ground. Every single muscle of his body hurt like hell. The telekhine bite was nothing compared to this no holds-barred beatdown. This was a curb-stomp battle, and he was on the receiving end of it. His head was throbbing away painfully. He couldn’t see it, but both his shoulders were so badly bruised that Will was genuinely surprised that nothing was broken. 

“Nico! Say something!” Reyna was chewing on her lips as she waited for a response from him. She was greatly regretting letting him fight Autolykos. Five times had Nico tried to bring him down, and five times had Nico been defeated. The man simply knew every trick in the book. During Nico’s first attempt, it had taken a mere three seconds for Nico to be thrown onto the ground and pummelled into submission. This was a mad endeavour, one with no reward in sight. Yet, Nico refused to back down despite his wounds.

While she helped to hold him in a sitting position, Will stuck a straw between his broken lips. The faint scent of nectar lingered in the air as Nico grimaced in pain. The godly liquid went down his parched throat and helped to ease some of the agonising pain. It helped that Will had brought a small cache of medical supplies with him. Nico groaned in pain when an ointment was applied on his bruised shoulders but the pain did actually abate. In any case, his injuries were far too many even for nectar to heal. If he was back in the camp, he would be stuck in the infirmary for a week or two. He didn’t have a week or two. 

Gritting his teeth, Nico slowly and very painfully got off the ground and rose to his feet. He was tired. He was in pain. He was in no condition to fight. He was not going to give up. Just as he took a step forward toward the smirking Autolykos, Reyna grabbed his wrist. “Nico, don’t do this to yourself. We’re not getting anything from this douche.”

“Hey, I’m not a –“

Reyna immediately shot a scorching look at Autolykos that actually shut him up. “We will find another way. You don’t need to do this,” she insisted.

Nico shook his head. “If Jason were here –“

“If Jason were here, he would want you to stay alive for him and not die for him,” interrupted Will. “Look at you. You look like you just got chewed up and nearly eaten by Mrs. O’Leary. We’ll come back another time, find another way. It’s just not worth it.”

“It’s worth it!” Nico snarled fiercely. The images that Hestia had shown him still played in his head. He pulled back his arm and dragged his feet to the centre of the ring. His body was begging him to lie down and rest. His head was warning him that pushing too far would land him in a hospital or worse, a morgue. He didn’t care. “I’m ready!”

Autolykos chuckled and shook his head in amusement. “Listen to your friends, boy. You’re never going to win. Why try?”

“Will you just shut up?!” 

Nico charged. He had thought up a move in his mind and while he expected Autolykos to counter it almost instantly, he just had to try. Something was better than nothing. His left leg straightened out quickly, despite the jolt of pain that surged through him. It then snaked over Autolykos’ back. The wrestler struggled weakly, almost as if he had been taken by surprise. Nico hanged on tightly for dear life as Autolykos tried to throw him off, bucking around like a bull in a rodeo. Digging his heels into the side of Autolykos’ stomach, Nico’s eyes widened when the wrestler fell onto his knees. For a brief moment, he really imagined that victory was his.

Then, an arm shot under his right armpit and a hand squeezed his already bruised shoulder. Nico’s face twisted into a painful grimace as Autolykus’ arm snaked across his neck. It just took two seconds for him to be thrown onto the ground with the man’s knee pressing into his spine. Desperately, Nico tried to shake him off but the knee just pressed in harder until it became too painful. A strangled cry escaped him as he admitted defeat. Tears flowed freely, a bitter outpour of rage, pain and disappointment. It was over. He had lost again.

Nico’s face was scrunched up in pain when he felt a thumb pressing hard on his battered shoulder. He would have screamed if not for the pain that choked him. His lean body was already covered with a colourful rainbow of bruises, blue, black and purple. He could have been easily mistaken for a CIA black site detainee by this point.

“Get off him!” Will angrily shouted. 

Reyna drew her sword and pointed it at Autolykos. If she hadn’t been restraining herself, she would have long given him a taste of her mind with the sharp end of her sword. “Do as he says!”

“Oh, come on! I’m just playing around!” With one final squeeze of Nico’s shoulder, the wrestler released Nico, his limp body splayed on the ground. Nico blinked with some pain. His vision was partly blurred; he couldn’t fully open his right eye. He nearly passed out when he tried to move his right arm. The agonising pain was engulfing all his senses.

“He’s had enough!” Reyna rushed to Nico’s side to turn him on his back. Her eyes were seething with rage as she glared at Autolykus. “We’re leaving.”

“No,” Nico gasped. He tried to get off the ground but jolts of pain immediately shot through his arms. His eyes met Reyna’s. “I can do this.”

“I can’t let you commit suicide today.” Will knelt next to him, wiping away the sweat and blood from the son of Hades’ face. Nico’s perseverance had certainly left him in awe, but they had long passed the point when they should have given up. “You’ve done your best, and that’s what’s important. We’ll come back some other time after we fix you up.”

“Really? He did his best today?” taunted Autolykos. Even as Reyna and Will shot daggers at him, he continued shaking his head and clicking his tongue in feigned disappointment. “The moment I saw you walk in, I already knew what you were made of. I’ve seen your type before: scrawny kid, big heart, not much brain. Still, I was hoping that you had more fight in you, at least to give me some challenge. And nope! And just walked over you like my dry cleaning. Come on, kid, just admit it. You ain’t Heracles. You’ve thrown your punches. And got nothing. Just go home. You’re not getting anything out of me today. And you can always get another boy to play with anyway.”

A triumphant smirk crept up the wrestler’s face as he spoke. Reyna burned to punch his teeth out, and Will would have happily joined in. That was at least before they heard a quiet chuckle. 

Nico stumbled onto his feet with great difficulty. He couldn’t even stand up straight for he was close to dropping dead of exhaustion. His face however, was stretched into a pained grimace. “You think I’ve not been holding back? Funny. You don’t know me. And you don’t know who Jason is. And I think you do not know whose son I am. Perhaps a little demonstration should ‘impress’ you.” His voice was quietly dangerous.

Reyna and Will started slowly backing away when they noticed a sheet of frost growing under Nico’s feet. It was kind of clear that beneath the calmness of his voice, his pent-up fury was starting to boil over and it was generally the worst idea to get in his way. They both had seen what he was capable of when pushed and they were more than happy to be not on the receiving end. On the other side, Autolykos was clearly growing more uncomfortable by the second as he too started backing away from Nico until he hit a wall. 

Shadows seemed to be gravitating toward Nico whose eyes grew darker, like two coals burned down to black. Slowly, the shadows crept up his leg and coated him in a dark robe of pure blackness. By then, Autolykos was trying and failing to keep his leotard dry. “Now, look here, boy, I was just –“ 

In a flurry of darkness, the shadows enveloped Nico. And he vanished. Nothing of him was left behind and it was as though he was never there in the first place. Autolykos was crouching on the ground, hiding his face away and rocking on his feet. A minute passed and still no sign of Nico. The wrestler slowly lifted his head and turned to look at Reyna and Will. “Is he gone?”

“Nope.”

A wall of cold blackness materialised right behind Autolykos. Nico charged out of the darkness and leapt onto his back, wrapping his right arm around the man. If there was an opportune time to launch his attack, this was it, catching the wrestler by surprise. Autolykos did somewhat recover from his shock when he exploded with force and the muscles in his legs pushed him up. Nico was in full control this time around however and he kept his arms in a tight wrap around Autolykos’s stomach. The wrestler grunted as he tried to force Nico off his back but in a stroke of luck, Nico caught his right ankle around his leg and tripped him back to the mat.

“Go, Nico!” Will cheered. 

Nico was now on top of Autolykos and he forced him down with all the strength that he had as Autolykos flailed and struggled to break free. Nico’s tight grip failed to loosen. Snarling, Autolykos slid his right leg from beneath them and threw himself to the left, trying to crush Nico with his weight. Nico narrowly avoided being pancaked and managed to clamber on top of him. His left arm wedged under Autolykos’ and the wrestler’s head was forced against the mat. Autolykos was screaming in angry protest when Nico forced his weight down to pin him to the ground and squeezed his head against the floor. Three seconds, two seconds, one second.

“I yield!” Autolykos stopped flailing about and laid limp in surrender.

“Are you impressed yet?!” growled Nico. 

“Yes, yes! Very! Now, will you let go of me? The rubber doesn’t taste that good.”

Nico released Autolykos. The wrestler eyed him warily and with some level of fear. A dry smile of victory was stretched on Nico’s face. “So, what do you want from me?”

“Not much. We need –“ Reyna noticed Nico slumping onto the ground, clearly exhausted. “Nico?” 

“Just. A. Quick. Nap.” Nico’s eyes slid shut as he fell into a well earned sleep. He needed it.


	12. Chapter 12

“What...did you make me do to Nico?!”

Nico’s heart seemed to skip a beat and his breath hitched rather obviously. It was a voice he had not heard for what really was nearly a week, but it was still a week too long. A voice he remembered well. A voice that had consistently comforted him on cold, quiet nights. A voice that had quietly whispered sweet nothings which sent lovely tingles down his spine. A voice that was currently filled with undying rage and a murderous fury.

It was a dream, Nico knew that. He had quite a few before, so it was no shocker that he knew that it was important that he listened and paid attention to the details. Nevertheless, just hearing Jason’s voice, angry or not, made his heart do cartwheels. At the very least, Jason was alive. His joy was short-lived however when a new voice broke through the darkness.

“Nothing much though I wished you did worse. He’s still alive. And like the hapless fucktoy he is, he’ll be coming to find you as I predicted. Once a pillowbiter, always a pillowbiter. And FYI, it wasn’t me who made you do anything. It was you who attacked him, not me.”

The voice was muffled, as if the speaker was speaking through a screen. Something told Nico that this was the masked man the telekhine had met with. There was also something very familiar about that voice for despite being muffled, something about it made his mouth feel sour and acidic, like he had bitten into an unripe lemon.

“I’ll kill you!” There was raucous clanking of chains as if Jason was lunging at someone. A pained snarl of agony from Jason was accompanied with the buzz of electricity. Nico gritted his teeth. He wished he could be there, to know who the one behind Jason’s pain was and to drag whoever was responsible down to the Underworld personally.

“Silver chains. Specially crafted on my orders. Can’t take chances around beasts like you. You’re not the one in charge here, Grace. And if not for my plans, I’d have your head paraded around on the streets of New Rome.”

The snarling stopped, only to be replaced with a low growl. “You treacherous piece of –“

“I’m treacherous?! You betrayed New Rome, you sided with the foul Greeks, who’s the traitor here? Look at yourself! A werewolf! A monster! Yet, you call me a traitor to New Rome? And to think that you were once praetor, though I always knew your allegiances laid elsewhere.” The speaker’s voice was rising to an octave as he carried on his mad rant. Whoever this was, Nico deduced that the speaker knew who Jason was and from the sounds of it, was a Roman, one who really had a hard-on against the Greeks. Perhaps one of Octavian’s fanatical followers?

“If that’s true, why are you keeping me chained up like a criminal? Why don’t you call Reyna here? In fact, why aren’t you bringing me before the Senate? Are you afraid that they won’t support you? That they will arrest you instead?” Jason retorted angrily.

“Shut up!” The ear-splitting buzzing of a stun baton being wielded and struck against flesh was followed with Jason howling in pain. Nico could feel the blood boiling inside of him, even in his dreams. If he could, he would have ripped away the darkness and tore into whoever was the one torturing Jason. “You don’t deserve your titles. Hero? What hero? I see nothing but a monster before me. Reyna was weak. And she’ll always be weak. New Rome has grown weak and flabby under her praetorship but all that will change when I return, starting with the removal of that fool, Zhang. How did you even consider him worthy of praetorship I will never know. I must admit though that I’m impressed by far you’ve fallen. From the proud Praetor of New Rome to nothing more than a lapdog of the Greeks, just so that you can hump that bitch of yours. And I’m not even talking about that Aphrodite girl you were dating before he became your bitch.”

“Call him a bitch – just one more time.” Jason growled; his voice dangerously low.

“He. Is. Your. Bitch.” The speaker spoke slowly and enunciated each word carefully. He clearly savoured saying those words a little too much. Even without seeing the speaker, Nico already felt like punching out all his teeth.

“I swear to the gods, you lay one finger on him and I’ll rip your head off, you bastard!” Jason roared in outrage and chains rattled noisily on the hard ground as he probably tried to attack whoever was speaking to him. The chilling electrical buzzing returned immediately. Even as he was unmistakeably struck again and again, Jason seemed too consumed with rage to even notice, growling savagely as he snapped his jaws at the speaker.

Something cluttered onto the ground. The chaotic sounds of a struggle gave way to a sudden, shocked silence and Nico could actually hear a gasp. “What the hell?” Jason's murmured.

“Your bitch did this to me, at what was supposed to be my greatest moment of triumph. He’ll pay for all the pain and agony I had to go through. Just to drill it into your thick skull, I won’t be touching him. You will, and not in the way you two fags enjoy. Just to give you a _taste_ of what is to come.” The speaker paused and actually let out an evil cackle. Someone clearly had been inspired by the Wicked Witch of the West. “Let’s just say that I may have taken some inspiration from Saturn. In any case, you’ll be there to watch the whole thing. But enough talk. To me.”

“You monster of a -”

“Shut up! To me!”

“Sir?” A third voice had entered the fray. And while the first voice was one that could make Nico’s ears bleed, this one was a lot more sinister in nature. Nico was well acquainted with the voices of the dead and something told him that this was something similar yet different. For one, the dead normally sounded bitter or just disappointed. This voice seemed to have a gleeful, near cheerful attitude to it. Whatever it was, it was definitely not human or even natural.

“Dress up. He’ll be here by nightfall and I like my plans to go exactly as I planned them.”

“Certainly, sir. I’ve waited for this moment for the longest time since my return.”

“I gave you your chance before and you failed me. Make sure you don't repeat your mistake. And now - “

“Your lunch, sir?” A woman spoke in heavily accented English, probably through a door since she was barely audible and there were knocks that Nico could hear.

“Perfect. Enjoy your _lunch_.” A gleeful snicker followed.

The darkness started to give way to a light but not before Nico felt chills traveling down his spine. There was just something about that line. Something just off, especially with that quiet laugh. A horrific thought fleeted through Nico’s head but he immediately dismissed it. It was too horrible to even think of. What he needed to focus on was finding Jason and recovering him from whoever was holding him. His surroundings finally started to solidify and Nico found himself with a spoon in his mouth, with Reyna pushing it into his mouth.

“Please. Don’t. Puke.”

Nico swallowed. And gagged. Whatever had been in that spoon tasted horrible. And that was saying much after having tasted his own cum before. He lurched forward, choking and retching, trying to reach out for a glass of water on the table next to him. Instantly, his bruised shoulders reminded him of their existence when they unleashed jolts of agony upon him. This was certainly not a great way to wake up.

Nico’s eyes were opened incredulously wide as he washed the rancid taste down his throat. One cup was far from enough, he grabbed an entire jug and chugged it down as well. His horrified eyes met Reyna’s. “What the hell was that?”

“My homemade remedy!” Autolykos sat on a barstool in the corner, bearing a cheerful grin. He seemed to be completely fine and unhurt, especially when compared to the battered and bruised Nico. That fact just made Nico want to hit him hard on the head with the flat of his sword. “Always helps me to recover quickly whenever I get bruised up in a fight.”

“And what do you put in your homemade remedy?! It’s like eating lard, rotten lard!” Nico felt like throwing up just thinking about the taste. This was the reverse nectar and ambrosia, tasting like every food he disliked. Think a mouldy sausage blended with garlic and blue cheese.

“Well, it’s actually – “

“He has no need to know,” Reyna abruptly interrupted. Autolykos kept his mouth shut when she gave him the death glare. She knew that it was better that Nico remained ignorant of the remedy’s contents and she herself had thrown up when she found out. “Will’s gone back to the camp to replenish his supplies. Are you feeling okay?”

Nico shifted his arm. It still hurt like hell, but only with sudden movements. He slowly reached out to his t-shirt that laid under him and wore it. He didn’t like people seeing the scars and wounds that blemished his skin. Jason never seemed to notice though. He always did treat Nico like he was the Holy Grail.

“I had a dream. Just heard people talking,” Nico murmured. “Jason’s alive but he’s a captive.”

“Did he say where?”

“No. I think he’s being held by a Roman.”

Reyna immediately pushed her chair closer. “A Roman?”

“He really hates the Greeks. Kept calling Jason a traitor for joining us. He also knows you. And really doesn’t like you. And me.”

Nico noticed her chewing her lip. He felt for her. It must never be an easy task handling an entire camp when treachery and backstabbing, both metaphorical and literal, were rife. At least she had Frank to share her responsibility and duties with now. “Was there anyone else?” she asked.

“A third guy but…” Nico paused as he recalled how indescribably inhuman the second voice was. The gleeful snicker still rang in his ears. “He didn’t talk much.”

“At least, we know he’s still alive.” She glanced at Autolykos. “Tell him what you’ve got.”

Autolykos stood up and threw a heavy leather briefcase onto the table. Inside was a list of departure flights from the airports around New York City on the morning that Jason disappeared. Nico picked up the list and studied it. Most of the details had red marker lines crossed over them. A total of six flights had been left unmarked though.

“The Fates must be smiling upon you. A fog rolled in at about the time your friend left, so most flights were left grounded, but these six managed to leave before that happened.”

Nico shot a withering stare at the wrestler who cowered in fear instantly. He was still terrified by Nico’s display of power. “If they were smiling upon me,” Nico growled between clenched teeth. “Jason would still be with me and I wouldn’t have to be bitten by a telekhine and be beaten and bruised by you.”

He turned away from the whimpering man to look at the list. Four airlines and two cargo planes. The commercial flights were heading to Ottawa, London, Paris and Cairo whereas the cargo airliners departed for San Francisco and Seattle. Six locations. Six possibilities to where Jason was being held. Whoever was holding Jason was expecting him today. This meant that if he wanted to find Jason, he needed to find him now.

Nico sighed. There was still so much ground to cover. These cities were not playground-sized. This was far beyond the traditional needle in a haystack. And for all he knew, the flight that Jason and his captor had taken was none of the six. This was a one-time opportunity to find and rescue Jason that was slipping away from his fingers with each passing second.

Reyna patted his back encouragingly. “We’ll find him. I know you will.”

“I really hope so,” Nico mumbled quietly.

“She’s on the move!” Will dashed into the room with a look of exasperated excitement written all over him. “Thalia. She’s gone after Jason!”

Nico’s eyes widened. This did not mean well if she found Jason before he did. “What?!”

_Because, if we find him before you do…you know what I must do._

“When I reached the camp, I apparently just missed Thalia and Rachel. Rachel had a prophesy which she gave straight to her and Chiron. She was long gone by the time I arrived. The Hunters said she went on her own because it was a personal matter.”

“What was the prophesy?” asked Reyna, mildly alarmed.

Will fished out a crumpled post-it from his back pocket:

“Where the Sun King once walked its Mirrored Hall,  
The wolf, the masked, the dead lurk.  
Till the past love speaks, the wolf shall devour all,  
Apollo's child to be forever lost in the dark."

Nico noticed Will’s voice cracking slightly when he read out the last line. A single, solitary stress line that formed just under his blonde bangs also did not go unnoticed. All were silent when Will folded the note and stuffed it back into his pants. He clearly was affected by what seemed to be his death sentence but he kept a straight face when he asked, “So, where to next then?”

He somehow kept an optimistic grin on his face. How he handled this sort of news Nico could never understand. A thought that had been wandering around in the back of his head made itself heard. Will was never that close to Jason. They were closer to being acquaintances than actual friends. Yet, here Will was. What did he have in for him?

“Will, why are you here?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you here? Helping me to find Jason? You were never close to him. Why are you helping me?”

Will sighed. “I kind of...care for you, okay? When I first saw you, you looked...well...Then, I kind of found out about your history, what happened to you and where you are from. So, I -”

“You’re doing because you pity me?” Nico’s voice was quiet. He wasn’t angry. He just needed to know.

“In a way, but, let’s just put it that I think you of all people deserve a happy ending, and I think yours lies with Jason,” he smiled. It was a sincere smile.

“Yup,” said Reyna. She stood up and walked over to Nico to ruffle his hair. “You were and are still one of the most obstinate, moody and pain-stricken demigods I have ever met. At least, before you got together with Jason. You’re still moody, and maybe a little obstinate but Hazel said she had never seen you as happy as you are with Jason. I believe her. You two are meant for each other, and we’re both happy to put you back together.”

Nico wasn’t sure how to reply. Scratch Reyna being a stand-in as his big sister. She was his big sister and Will was his big brother. He had a bigger family than he had asked for. All he could manage was a sheepish smile. “Thanks. I’m not sure what to say.”

“Nothing. And I think we still have to figure out where Thalia’s going,” said Reyna.

“The Sun King...Wasn’t there an Egyptian pharaoh who ended up worshipping the sun?”

“Wait. We might be going to Egypt?” Reyna seemed surprisingly anxious about that possibility as evidenced by the frown on her face.

Will noticed it as well. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just heard...stuff about the place.”

“Did any of you even pass your history exams?” A thick, heavy book bound in brown leather landed on the table, shaking its very foundation. The Encyclopaedia Britannica. As he flipped it open and glanced through the pages, Nico wondered how long would it take for a dyslexic demigod for him to read through the impossibly tiny font. The pages looked somewhat similar to a bowl of alphabet soup, though far less appetising looking.

“Oh, for crying out loud, turn to the page with the folded corner,” scolded Autolykos.

“King Louis XIV? Also known as the Sun King?” Will slowly read.

“If I recall correctly, he was your half-brother. He kind of ended up fighting my half-brother, John Churchill. So, Jason’s in France?”

“I hope so,” Nico whispered. He knew the clock was ticking. Thalia had a head-start on him and if he failed to reach Jason in time, only the gods could help him.

“But what about the Mirrored Hall?” asked Reyna.

“Seriously, have you kids ever touched an encyclopaedia or are you always on your phones?” Autolykos grabbed the book and flipped the pages until he found what he wanted. He pressed his thumb onto an entry. “Versailles! Louis’ palace. Has a famous Hall of Mirrors if you’re wondering.”

“Wait, so not only is Jason in France, he’s also being held in an old palace. This seems a little...unlikely. But then, Olympus is on top of the Empire State Building…And who the heck is funding this?”

“We have to try,” Nico said. The oracle was not known to give false prophecies. Then again, they were by nature extremely subversive though. One thing could mean another. He knew better than to take them at face-value. And he was so close to finding Jason, but he needed to do it quickly before Thalia reached her brother.

“I brought my passport, but I don’t think you guys did, did you?”

“Nope. Mine's with my Mom.”

Nico shook his head. He didn’t even have a passport. It’s not like Hades could turn up in a government office and put in an application for a passport for Nico.

“How about the Sisters?” Autolykos asked.

“They only serve New York. They would never go all the way across the Atlantic,” Will pointed out.

Autolykos smiled.

“Wouldn’t they?”


	13. Chapter 13

“This is kind of awesome!” All of Will’s pearly whites were exposed as his lips were blasted back by the pure force of the sea breeze. He didn’t really seem to care for the fact that his seat was getting soaked with the spray of saltwater.

Nico unconsciously nodded. His mind was elsewhere. A discomforting feeling had been following him around since his dream and it was bothering him. Something just wasn’t sitting right with him. Something was not right. Perhaps it was the sight of Autolykos giving a somewhat excessive PDA to each of the Grey Sisters. Perhaps it was the ridiculousness of how the cab was being driven at literally deathly speeds by three insane ancient lunatics who only had one eye between them. Perhaps it was the sudden plunge that the seemingly unassuming NY cab suddenly took when they drove off the Brooklyn Bridge and landed on the water. And perhaps it was how they had actually somehow driven across the Atlantic without sinking like a rock. The French coastline was in the distance and was growing closer with each passing second. Nico knew what was wrong. He had felt this feeling before.

“Hey.” Reyna gently tapped on Nico’s shoulder. “You look worried.”

“I am worried,” Nico muttered. “We’re heading into a trap. I just know it.”

“When is it never a trap? It’s always a trap.”

Nico closed his eyes and sighed. “Whoever’s holding Jason, he’s waiting for us. He’s expecting us. And we’re going to just walk straight into his hands.”

“And we’ll figure out a way to stop him. And free Jason. This is basically every quest ever.” Reyna’s words were confident ones but her eyes betrayed her own concerns to Nico.

“It’s never that simple. It will never be simple.” From the corner of his eye, Nico watched Will. The son of Apollo didn’t seem at all perturbed by the likely possibility that he was not going to return from this quest alive. In fact, he seemed all the more lively and carefree. The happiness of a man spending his last day on earth, Nico noted bitterly to himself.

“Duh. That comes with the package, along with all the monsters and the world-ending threats.” Reyna adjusted her arm so that her Aegis cloak would stop flapping in the wind. “It's always been that way for our kind and it’s always going to be that way.”

The cab shook violently as it charged across a sandbar and onto the waves once more. Nico wanted to ask the Sisters how far were they from Versailles but they were still too busy swooning over Autolykos. They clearly had a long history. Instead, he reached inside his t-shirt and pulled his camp necklace out.

“He gave that to you?” she asked curiously.

Quietly, Nico nodded as he closed his fingers around the wolf pendant. A slight feeling of pride surged within him. His efforts had not ended in failure, though he did end up with spots of blue-black all over his body. With each passing second, he was coming closer to reuniting with his werewolf. He chuckled. His werewolf. As if he owned Jason. On the contrary, he was owned by Jason. Not in the literal sense of the word ‘owned’. The proper word would have been ‘claimed’. He was no slave but he had warned Jason when they first started dating that if he didn’t respect his space and freedom, he could go and shove his dick into a sharpener. Secretly, Nico enjoyed being pampered. There was something simply something, something that made him smile whenever Jason pulled him into a tight hug and covered his face with sloppy but sincere kisses. Jason completed him. And someone had broken him.

His face was a dark mask as he stuffed his necklace back under his t-shirt. “Whoever’s behind all this, I’ll throw him into Tartarus myself.” His voice was as cold as death as he spoke, befitting his lineage.

“Literally?” asked Will.

Nico just looked at him.

Sand sprayed across the windshield as the cab hurtled onto the shore. They had finally made landfall. Nico could feel his heart in his mouth as the bickering Sisters revved up a hill before skidding onto a lonely countryside road. If only they would stop squabbling about which Sister Autolykos loved more and kept their eyes, or eye, on the road, he would feel a little safer...but not by much.

“I just keep thinking, thinking about who could possibly be the one behind all this.” Reyna rubbed her forehead as if in deep thought. “I just can’t think up of any names. Only a snake like Octavian could come up with this sort of scheme but he’s gone. And why here? Why France? Why Versailles?”

“Maybe the person behind this is French?” suggested Will.

“No.” Nico shook his head. Nothing about that voice indicated that the speaker was French.

“I’ll guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

The country road soon turned into a bustling highway. As Nico looked out of the window, he noticed the light snowfall and the strings of colourful lights that hanged from street lamps. Snow drifted through the cold air, falling white and flaky through the night. When he saw a large banner that bore the words ‘Joyeux Noël’ on it, it suddenly dawned upon Nico that tonight was Christmas Eve. It was nearly a week since he had lost Jason.

This was supposed to be his first Christmas spent as Jason’s mate. Before this whole mess started, he hadn’t decided what he wanted to get for Jason. He had considered asking Leo for suggestions or going over to California to go Christmas shopping with Hazel. It didn’t really matter now though. His eyes were closed as he leaned his head against the window. He wanted back Jason. That was all he wanted this year. As well as answers.

Nico suddenly found his thoughts being startled as he was thrown forward when the cab came to a screeching halt. His face landed smack on the back of the driver’s seat. His nose hurt. As did his already bruised shoulders. The number of lice having a picnic in the driving Sister’s wrinkly scalp also didn’t help his stomach.

“He loves me more! We’re here, heroes!” the one named Wasp screamed.

“Thank the gods!” Will groaned as he threw open the door and struggled his way out. Nico followed suit. He swore he heard his bones creak as he got out. A quick stretch was in order.

“Umm, thanks for the ride?” Reyna grimaced.

“Anything for our poochykin! He’s so cute! And manly!” Anger cried.

“And he loves me the most!” Tempest screamed.

“Okay...” Reyna wisely chose to back away slowly.

“No, he loves me more!” The other two wailed before flailing their arms at each other. How they lived together throughout the millennia escaped Nico. In their struggle, Anger punched Wasp’s eye out which flew out at the window, hit him in the face and landed at his feet. He retched.

“Eww...” Nico’s face was scrunched in disgust as he leaned down to pick up the eye that oozed with slime. Having to clean up after Mrs. O’Leary was one thing. This was another.

“Give me the eye! I’m driving home to meet Autolykos first!”

“No, I am! Give it to me, boy! Poochykin’s waiting for me!”

“Not her! Me! I want it! He loves me better!”

“Umm...” He just wanted to get run to the nearest toilet and wash his hands with bottles after bottles of soap. The sticky goo that dripped off the still-moving eyeball made his stomach churn.

“Child of Hades! Beware lest you land in the belly of the wolf as others have!” Wasp yelled.

Nico nearly dropped the eyeball.

“What?”

“Shut up!” A hand of one of the Sisters reached out of the window and snatched the eyeball out of his hand. He wanted to grab it back to demand for more information but they were already starting to roll up their window.

“Your thread lies on the edge of the knife, boy! The knife with your blood on it!” Tempest squealed as her face was crushed against the window by her sisters who wanted her eye.

“What knife? My blood? What do you mean? Tell me!” Nico ran forward and raised his fist to bang on the window but before he could do anything, the cab sped off into the distance. He really hated it when immortal beings gave completely vague information.

_Beware lest you land in the belly of the wolf as others have._

_Your thread lies on the edge of the knife._

“Nico?”

He lifted his face to look directly at Reyna. “I – I don’t understand.”

“We rarely do until the time comes. Will’s having trouble. Come on!” She took his arm and ran towards the beautifully gilded gates. Behind them was the looming chateau of a thousand rooms, the Palace of Versailles. And Jason was being held somewhere in it. Nico’s spirits rose a little but the words of the Sisters were still playing in his head.

“Monsieur, we’re just tourists! Cousins! From America! Le Amerique! Do we have to buy tickets or something? Please, monsieur!”

“Non, non! Fonction privée! Pas d'entrée pour vous!” The gendarme crossed his arms sternly while the other laughed mockingly from his guard post. He shook his head as Nico and Reyna joined the already exasperated Will. Probably not the first time a bunch of silly American tourists bothered them without even bothering to pick up a French guidebook.

“Monsieur,” said Reyna. “Our friend, nous ami, is inside and we need to find him.”

“Non. Aucune invitation, pas d'entrée.”

Nico was wondering whether they could pay them to look the other way when a limousine pulled up right behind him. The doors flew open and a group of ladies streamed out. He had to raise an eyebrow when he looked at them. Their hairdos could only be called towers and their waists were obviously being constrained by corsets. No human being could have a waist that small. Did they just walk out of a 18th century painting or something?

“Pardonnez-nous , officiers!” they giggled at the clearly smitten gendarmes. “Nous avons une boule pour y assister!”

“Certainement!” The gates swung open to let the giggling gaggle of girls into the compound. Some of them whispered excitedly when they passed Nico and made kissing sounds at him. Nico blinked. If only he could speak French as well as he could Italian and Spanish, he would have quipped something like, “Sorry, girls. I suck cock.”

“Gods. We need an invitation to get in,” Reyna muttered. “Come on, Nico. We’ll find another way in.”

As the trio started to walk away, the gendarme suddenly shouted, “Vous trois! Arrêt!”

He ran up to Nico. “Vous, Monsieur di Angelo? Nico di Angelo?”

Nico’s eyes narrowed. His voice was cautious as he answered, “Oui.”

“Monsieur, vous are on le liste d'invitation. Vous can enter.”

“Wait, what?”

The gendarme unlocked the gate and opened it for him. Nico glanced up at Reyna and Will, silently asking them what to do. He didn’t know anyone here and to be separated from them could be potentially dangerous. Someone was really expecting him the whole time.

“Go!” Will whispered. “We’ll catch up. Find him!”

“Stay safe, guys.” With that, Nico turned and walked through the gates. They closed with a clang behind him. There was no turning back now. He took in a deep breath. He was not going anywhere without Jason any longer. His fists clenched, he continued walking.

Someone clearly loved the 18th century too much. Everyone was dressed in the most frivolous, and most uncomfortable-looking, dresses imaginable. He couldn’t understand how the women could even breathe normally with their constrained waists and walk in their bell-shaped skirts. The guys too didn’t seem very happy with their towering wigs that kept falling off their heads. It was like trying to watch an elephant balance a unicycle except the guys were the unicycles and the wigs the elephant. The Venetian masks that all the guests wore were also rather unsettling to Nico. Especially when he remembered that he was looking for a masked man. Everyone here was masked. He wasn’t looking for a needle in a haystack. He was looking for a needle in a thousand haystacks.

As he walked through the crowd, Nico realised that he was kind of lost. He wasn’t expecting a marquee to suddenly light up with the words ‘Bad Guy Here’, but it was close to impossible to know what or who he was looking for. He looked around, hoping to notice anyone staring at him but as it turned out, a lot of people were staring at him. His t-shirt and jeans were making him stand out more than a ballerina in a football team. He ignored them and pushed on.

He had just made his way to the centre of the ballroom when something inside him told him to look up. Nico lifted his eyes to a balcony that overlooked the floor below. He wore no wig, so his neatly-cropped blonde hair remained exposed. It did seem a little longer and untrimmed but it was still him. The upper part of his face was concealed by his mask but his lips were not. Those lips. And the scar on the left corner.

_Jason._

Nico’s heart skipped a beat. He wanted to call up to him but a smirk that appeared on Jason’s lips warned him not to. Something about that smirk sent a chill down his spine. A nearly cruel smile. Jason turned away and disappeared through the door behind him. His heart racing, Nico shoved quite a few annoyed Frenchmen out of his way and raced up a flight of grand stairs to the floor above. He was not going to let Jason go this easily. He had lost too much and come too far to lose him now.

He was chasing a ghost. Doors were left ajar indicating that Nico was on the right track but he was growing increasingly suspicious. Why was Jason running away from him? And why was he leading him deeper and deeper into the chateau? His sword and dagger hanged heavily on his side. Something was not right.

A door was slightly ajar. It was right at the end of a long corridor, beckoning him to open it. A feeling of unease and tension seemed to be building in the air. Nico knew that he was walking into a trap. He was already in it in fact. This felt like his time in Tartarus, alone and helpless against an unseen but powerful enemy. He didn’t care. He wanted Jason back.

He drew his sword and threw open the door.

“It’s been a while, di Angelo.”


	14. Chapter 14

“Isn’t this place beautiful? A seat of power and a temple built to honour Apollo himself! I couldn’t resist meeting you here.”

A hooded figure stood at the very end of the hallway, snugly seated in an ornate chair. Nico tried to leave the door behind him open so as to provide him with some light but an obstinate gale kept slamming it shut. Nico gave up. Instead, his eyes turned toward the figure. The one behind all this. The masked man. In the dim light of night, his features were far from visible but something just told Nico, even at this great a distance, the figure was wearing a crude smirk on his face. Nico knew that he was essentially a doe walking straight into a snare. He didn’t care.

Gritting his teeth, Nico’s hand tightened around the hilt of his sword.

“Where is Jason?” His voice was nearly an inaudible murmur but his fists were convulsing with a suppressed rage and his eyes glinted coldly. Nico had lost too much in this life and he didn’t care who or what stood in his way to Jason. He was not going to let anyone take him away from him.

“Why do you need to know? Need to get a dick up your ass again?” The hooded figure taunted.

Sword drawn, Nico began advancing toward him. His footsteps echoed loudly on the marble floor, shattering the stillness of the lonely hall. For a brief moment, Nico thought that there was someone flanking him on his left. A quick glance to his left cleared his doubts. A long row of floor-to-wall mirrors enabled his reflection to precisely mimic his movements. A tired, angry teenage boy stared back at him as he continued his stride toward the seated figure. His hair was an even a greater mess than usual and the dark circles under his eyes told the tale of how restless his sleep had become.

“Honestly, di Angelo, I was already expecting your allegiances to be elsewhere but to be a bottom bitch for our dear praetor? Oh, my. But that’s what I have come to expect from you Greeks. Just meant to be fucked with. Shame that such a powerful hero could have such...disturbing tastes.”

“Where. Is. Jason?” The veins in Nico’s neck were bulging out in ridges as he grinded out those words through his clenched teeth.

The figure shifted uncomfortably in his seat with each step Nico took toward him. At this distance, Nico could see that the figure was indeed wearing a mask. A featureless mask that only had two eye holes to see out of. Two blue eyes peered coldly at him, the fear in them growing with his approach. It was Nico’s turn to smirk. A frightened enemy was a weak one. He very deliberately let the tip of his blade scrape across the cold floor, letting its screech echo through the hall.

“Stop it!” The masked man stood up and began backing away. “I haven’t finished speaking.”

“I didn’t come here to hear you talk.” Nico’s snarl dripped with spite for this spineless coward.

“Back off! I’m warning you.”

Nico said nothing, instead calmly using the flat of his sword to push the now-empty chair aside. His eyes, blazing murderously, met his opponent’s. He tried to hide it but he found that a wry smile was growing on his face. He chose to let it stay.

* * *

  
“You know, the sounds you make are kind of amazing to listen to.”

Nico raised an eyebrow as he slashed his blade in Jason’s direction. “What?”

Laughing, Jason parried the attack with his gladius and swung his fist at Nico’s face. He purposely avoided hitting Nico directly in the face, instead just harmlessly poking his nose. “You’re really loud when you fight.”

“Do you have a problem with that?” Nico frowned before withdrawing his sword. He swept Jason’s hand away from his face. “The other guys are loud with their battle cries and stuff. Why shouldn’t I do that?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just that all the grunting and snarling, it’s kind of – “

“Kind of what?”

Jason hesitated. “Sexy.”

Nico blinked - and punched him square in the chest. Jason barely noticed it though; he was pretty much as fragile as a concrete wall. He did however notice Nico looking a little hurt. He gently brushed back the inky black hair that had matted onto Nico’s sweat soaked forehead.

“Hey. I was just joking. But you want to know something? I’m most afraid of you when you say nothing. Not a word. I won’t know what’s in your head but your eyes tell me everything you want to do to me. They tell me not to underestimate you. They tell me that behind the quiet, there’s a dangerous fierceness inside of you.” He knew he was sounding pathetically poetic and cringingly cheesy, but he was honest with every word he had said.

Nico was silent for a while.

“Oh.”

The werewolf blinked, laughed and leaned in to kiss Nico on the lips, ignoring the stares and giggles the other campers were giving. “That’s all I get? An ‘oh’?”

Nico could feel cheeks turning a brilliant shade of red. “Do you want a prize or something?” he muttered, trying his best to sound annoyed but secretly, he was as smitten as a lovesick puppy but he didn’t want to be the Juliet in this relationship. He was Jason’s equal, nothing lesser than that.

“Well, maybe. It’s okay to be loud.” Jason paused and leaned in to whisper into Nico’s ear. “Especially when you’re under me with me inside you and making you one very happy boy.”

Now, Nico really was blushing like an idiot. He rolled his eyes at Jason though he couldn’t hide his smile or ignore the twitch of his crotch. “Are you in heat again?”

“No. But I can see you’re interested.” A sly smirk was on Jason’s face when his hand reached down to brush against the growing tent in Nico’s pants.

Grabbing the collar of Jason’s t-shirt, Nico pulled him down so that he was face to face with his boyfriend. He looked cross but Jason knew better. “Shower. Now.”

* * *

 

“Fine! You don’t want to play by my rules? You want to know where’s Jason? How about I call him here?” The masked man snarled as he reached to his side and pulled out a small metal tube which he lifted to his lips. A whistle. Nico stopped in his tracks. Silence.

_“It’s like...screaming. You can’t hear it?”_

The door behind the masked man swung open. A low growl rumbled through the hall as Jason or rather, what was supposed to be Jason, pushed its way through the doorway. He kept his monstrous glare trained on Nico as he stepped between him and the masked man. His long fangs, while sharp as always also had a more dangerous, murderous glint as drool dripped onto the floor. He looked more beast than man with his back hunched and blonde fur all over his body. But what caught Nico’s attention were his eyes. They were no longer the cool, calming lightning blue he loved but a cold, baleful gold. He didn’t know who this was. This wasn’t Jason.

“When I first found out what had happened to poor Jason, I was surprised. I thought you Greeks would never tolerate monsters in your camp, and then I remembered: you are Greeks! You would never have the guts to do the right thing. And then, you of all people ended up sleeping with it? Charming.” The masked man jeered mockingly, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “How you even got a place in the Senate escapes me. You don’t deserve such a place of honour just because of your blood.”

“Coward!” Nico was stammering with rage. His face was hot and pinched with resentment. If not for the fact that he couldn’t keep his eyes off Jason, someone would already be on his way to the Underworld. “You call him a monster but here you are, hiding behind him. What a fucking hypocrite! And are you so afraid of showing your face that you need to hide behind a mask?!”

The man lifted his gloved hand to touch his mask. “Ah. My mask. You’re the reason why I wear one, you know. Perhaps I should show you what lies beneath. But that comes later. Don’t you have anything to say to Jason over here?”

Nico shifted his eyes to look Jason in the eye. Seeing Jason like this felt like a stab in the chest. He wasn’t expecting a romantic-comedy reunion where he could run up to Jason and leap into his arms before driving off into the sunset. He knew that his story was not one of those. He had however, held on tightly to the hope that he would find Jason, at least the way he knew him best. Not like this. Nico closed his eyes. He had to hold on. Jason would have.

“Jason? Do you remember me?” His voice quavered for a moment. This was harder than he had thought. “It’s – me. Nico? Your – your mate?”

The werewolf tilted its head to one side as if confused. Or remembering.

“I don’t know what he did to you or how he hurt you. But I know you can hear me. Maybe it’s hard to remember. But please. Just try.” Nico’s face was dark with pain. To see what Jason had become in the flesh. He had to try. “Please. Come back...I beg you.”

For a brief moment, Nico thought he saw a spark of blue in Jason’s eyes. Then, Jason laughed.

“Sorry, Jason’s not in at the moment. Perhaps you’d like to leave a message?”

Nico’s mouth fell open. Then, he felt his throat closing, making it hard to breathe. He hadn’t thought about it properly. Now he did. He finally realised to whom the third voice belonged to.

_The dead lurk._

His eyes were close to bulging out of his sockets when he raised his sword and pointed it at Jason. “Get out of him.” Nico sounded brisk and business-like but in reality, he was about to explode with the wrath that had long passed boiling point.

“I’m afraid you’re not the one in charge here, di Angelo. I am. Maybe I’ll – “

“Nico!” The door behind Nico swung open and Reyna and Will rushed up to Nico’s side, her sword and his bow drawn. They had somehow managed to change into rather cheap-looking Baroque costumes that made Will look like a very gay pirate and Reyna like a broke French aristocrat. She surveyed the situation, looking at Jason and then at the masked man. Despite his face being hidden, Nico could tell that the masked man was surprised at this new unwelcome company.

“Reyna?”

“And Will,” added the son of the Apollo as he notched an arrow.

Reyna pointed her sword at the masked man. “Roman, if you have sworn an allegiance of loyalty to New Rome, then I, Reyna, Praetor of New Rome, order you to identify yourself.”

“Wait.” The masked man lifted his hand. “You don’t know who I am? You haven’t figured it out? But you still managed to find me?”

“Demon! Release him!” Nico could feel the veins in his neck throbbing dangerously. He could care less if he ended up with a brain aneurysm. He didn’t care. Everything terrible thing that Jason had done, he had no control over it. This thing that was in control of him did.

“You’re weak, Reyna. New Rome crumbles as we speak under your praetorship. After all that I’ve done to make her great again. You and that fool, Zhang, are traitors, unworthy of – ouch!” A mask clattered quietly onto the ground, the cheek slightly stained with a red liquid.

Will notched another arrow. “I won’t miss the next time.”

The unmasked man sucked in his breath angrily. “Fine!” he spat through his clenched teeth. “You want to see me? See your handiwork, di Angelo? Here I am!” He threw down his hood.

As the hood was thrown back, a face, pocked with scars and wounds revealed itself. A nearly destroyed nose, a pair of lips that were dry and burnt, eyes that blazed murderously at all three of them. Nico had to admit, he wasn’t exactly too surprised to see who laid behind the mask. He was surprised however that _he_ was somehow alive. He had sensed _his_ death at the battle at Camp Half-Blood, unless _he_ was already dead inside.

“What the...fuck? Gods. How is he still alive?”

Reyna’s face hardened instantly. “I should have known as soon as they couldn’t find your body, Octavian.”

“And yet, you didn’t even bother mourning me. Did you even give your condolences to my family?” Octavian hissed. His broken lips were contorting grotesquely into an arrogant smile.

“Mourning and condolences are for heroes. You’re no hero!” Reyna yelled. “You sent Bryce Lawrence after me, Nico and the Coach. You’re the traitor!”

“I? Traitor? Coming from you who killed your own father! That itself demands your blood in retribution!”

Nico took a step forward. Something had just occurred to him. He could personally count the number of people who knew that unpleasant part of Reyna’s past. He, Reyna herself and...

“And how do you know that?” Nico asked coldly. Only one other person could have told him, but Nico still needed to hear his answer.

Octavian’s scorched face lit up with a bitter triumph. He reached for his sacrificial knife that hanged from his side and gave it a twirl. Something about the blade told Nico that innocent blood had been shed by it. “You know, di Angelo, I never liked you. But I must thank you. This was just meant to be a simple case of revenge. You burnt my face, I kill you.”

“He burnt your face? You literally did that to yourself!” Will pointed out rather accurately.

“Shut up! The inaction of you two resulted in this happening to me! But, no matter! I just got a better idea. A greater idea. One that will be bring me back to New Rome on the backs of all those who will call me hero and saviour of New Rome. And you, Reyna, will be the one to welcome me back.”

Reyna’s lips curled with disgust. “I’d rather die than let you step one foot into New Rome.”

“Oh, I don’t need you. Just your body.”

“What?!”

“Answer me! How do you know that?!” Nico had his growing suspicions but he wanted a confirmation.

“You know, I must admit that you were pretty impressive at Buford. But what you did to poor Bryce? Disproportionate. Especially to a loyal son of New Rome. But some mistakes can be rectified though it does require some sacrifice.”

Nico’s mouth fell slightly open. He knew what was coming next but it still shocked him. “What have you done?”

“And those who serve New Rome deserve second chances. Don’t they, Bryce?” Octavian’s eyes were narrowing with contempt at Nico before patting a devilishly smirking Jason on the back. Jason. Bryce.

_Gods._

Nico nearly staggered onto the floor but his rage quickly overcame his horror. Jason. Poor Jason. He never stood a chance. A sheet of frost started to spread under him and even on this cold winter night, a freezing chill descended upon the hall. He was too furious for words but he eventually found his tongue.

“You – you brought back the dead?!” he growled fiercely.

“Not like I’m the first to do it. You did away with one of my more loyal lieutenants and it was my responsibility to ensure that this injustice be rectified.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” asked a confused Will.

“He was possessed. The whole time,” Reyna snarled.

“Surprised?” Jason, or Bryce, laughed.

“Oh, don’t worry,” said Octavian. He set back his chair in its original position and sat back down in it. “I’d hope that I could handle a full resurrection, but you know, I’m not a necromancer or anything, so I could only bring back his spirit. He has served me well however. He deserves this body; at least he knows how to make full use of it unlike that idiot, Grace. Unfortunately, he has acquired an – an exquisite taste in preparation for your impending demise.”

_An exquisite taste._

“What do you mean?” Will asked.

_Beware lest you land in the belly of the wolf as others have!_

“Oh, you know, do what werewolves are supposed to do.”

_The wolf shall devour all._

“Get to the point!”

_Enjoy your lunch._

“What did you make him do?!” Nico screamed. He could feel the bile gathering in his throat. He was praying that he was wrong.

“I made sure that he saw everything,” Jason, or rather, Bryce, said. “Let him see the fear in their terrified eyes, let him try to stop me and then...” Bryce licked his lips. Nico could feel his blood freezing to a chill. If Jason had actually seen everything...And how many had he...Nico had the feeling that his knees could no longer hold the weight of his body.

“Oh, gods, I’m going to be sick!” Will retched.

“Octavian! You beast! You’ll face trial and punishment before the Senate for these crimes!”

“Oh, I am? I’m afraid not. But I won’t spoil you my plans. I tire of this. New Rome cries out to me to make her great again. And I shall answer her call. And the wolf grows hungry.” Octavian turned to Jason or Bryce. “Take care of both of them, but bring her to me alive. Enjoy your dinner.”

Bryce growled and bared Jason’s fangs before crouching low to the ground.

“What do we do?” Will cried as he aimed his bow at Jason and then, Octavian.

“Jason, please! You need to fight him! Come back to me!” Nico’s voice shook as he spoke. Jason was somewhere in there; he just needed to hear him.

“Run!” Reyna grabbed the two of them and dashed toward the door.

A roar echoed through the entire palace as the werewolf started its hunt.


	15. Chapter 15

“Run away! Run away!” Will didn’t care that he was screaming at the top of his lungs. A sore throat was the least of anyone’s problems at the moment. He had a good reason to, after all. When one’s being chased and hunted down by a bloodthirsty, murderous werewolf, it’s generally not an illogical reaction to start screaming. 

Nico wanted to start screaming too. There was an entire whirlpool of feelings churning away in his head and he didn’t even have the time to sort any of them out. There was of course an undying hatred and despise for that bastard of a snake, Octavian. Had he known what he had done, Nico would have just killed right where he stood. There was also an undeniable amount of grief for himself, but more for Jason. All the horrors that he had been put through, he had to go through alone, just like Nico had in Tartarus. But most of all, Nico was fearful. Fearful that whatever remained of Jason had been washed away and the creature had stood between him and Octavian was nothing more than a human sock puppet. Nico shook his head. Jason was still in there. A prisoner, maybe, but he was in there. The way Jason had looked at him when he spoke to him confirmed it. He wanted to believe it.

A pair of gendarmes that stood guarding the door stared at the demigod trio as though they were a bunch of escaped circus animals. For a while, they looked baffled and bemused as Nico, Reyna and Will dashed through the hallway. Nico wondered whether they would try to stop them and sure enough, one of them stood in front of the door and held his hand up. 

“Arrêtez!” As bewildered as he looked, Nico guessed he was just trying to do his job, and he didn’t blame him for it but he wasn’t going to die today just because of some disciplined mortal. He picked up speed and charged right at the man, knocking his hand away and shoving him backwards into his friend. 

“Pardon, monsieur!” Reyna shouted apologetically over her shoulder. Despite the precariousness of the entire situation, she was still maintaining her cool composure, something Nico truly admired about her.

The gendarmes were getting back onto their feet and drawing their batons when the door at the end of the hall Nico just escaped through burst into splinters and sawdust. Nico stopped running. He knew that his life was being drastically shortened with every second he let Jason catch up with him but he had to. He just had to look. Jason’s eyes were wild and crazed, befitting that only of a beast gone berserk. They also had a murderous glint in them that worked hand in hand with a bloodthirsty grin as if Jason relishing the thought of ripping him apart limb by limb. Nico shook his head. Those weren’t Jason’s eyes, they were Bryce’s.

“It’s not Jason, it’s not, it’s not,” he desperately reassured himself. Jason was nothing more than the puppet while Bryce was its master. Those two needed to be separated, both literally and figuratively. That was, at least, if there was truly anything resembling Jason’s sentience left inside his body.

“Nico, what are you doing?! Come on!” Reyna shouted.

Whatever Bryce looked like through the Mist, he must have appeared rather downright terrifying to the mortals as the gendarmes started speaking in rapid, panicked tones and wielding their batons. Bryce ignored them, instead focusing his hateful gaze on Nico as he started stalking toward his prey. His golden eyes seemed to crinkle with mirth, as if he was enjoying every moment of this. Nico felt paralysed, his feet riveted to the ground. Both he and Bryce knew that all he was doing was delaying the inevitable. He couldn’t keep running forever and once Bryce had caught up with him, there were only two options, kill or die.

Neither was acceptable.

He needed a plan, but he needed time to think up of one and time was not exactly a luxury at that moment. He had to force Bryce out of Jason, but how? Nico turned and continued running as a savage snarl escaped Bryce. In a surprising act of mortal bravado, the gendarmes were actually trying to halt Bryce’s advance but they might as well have punched a brick wall. Windows were shattered as the two unconscious men were thrown out into the raging blizzard outside. Someone really was going to have a hard time explaining the damage to the French authorities.

“We need to get out of here!” Reyna slammed the door behind her shut before barricading it with a dresser. “There are too many mortals in here. We can’t let him hurt anyone else!”

Anyone else. Nico sighed and leaned back onto a wall. He was exhausted. His knees were weak and wobbly. His shoulders hurt more than ever. His head wasn’t doing well either. Bryce’s words kept rewinding through his mind like an iPod gone haywire. Just thinking about them made him feel sick at the stomach. If Bryce had been telling the truth, that he had forced Jason to murder and…All the more reason why this madness had to be put to an end. 

Will groaned as pushed a desk to add to the barricade. A low growl came from the other side of the thick mahogany door as Bryce tried to force it open. “No. What we need is a plan. We can’t keep running forever.”

“Then, what do you suggest?”

Will sighed. Nico noticed him sparing a quick glance at him. “Didn’t you two actually defeat Lycaon and his pack during your quest?”

Immediately, Nico’s face hardened. Hearing this from Piper was one thing, but hearing it from Will was definitely another. Some people simply gave up too easily, but Nico was definitely no among their number. “We’re not going to kill Jason,” he grinded out through clenched teeth. He had sworn to bring Jason home but definitely not in a body bag. 

“I don’t want to do this, but I’m starting to think we don’t have much choice. I don’t think Bryce will be showing us any mercy once he breaks through.”

“This is Nico’s quest and Jason is his mate,” Reyna muttered. “Let him choose for himself.”

The door shook violently as Bryce started to claw away at the woodwork. Nico’s lip twitched as he realised that even the thick mahogany wood would have to give way at some point. He wasn’t aware of it but his eyes had taken on a hunted look. No prizes for guessing why though. He knew that he was Bryce’s main target, no doubt seeking revenge for what happened at Buford. He glanced at Reyna and Will who sat silently waiting for the inevitable. He wasn’t going to let either of them die for him. But he was also not letting Jason die too.

“If Octavian can bring Bryce back, he might also have a way of forcing him out.”

“Wait, since Bryce is…dead, can’t you just force him out and banish him to the Underworld?” asked Will.

Nico shook his head. He suspected that he could indeed order Bryce to return to where he rightfully belonged but that only left the question of whether he would unintentionally destroy Jason’s consciousness. Did Jason even have any semblance of sentience at the moment? The risk was simply too great. He didn’t want to end up leaving Jason as an empty husk or a drooling vegetable, and he himself had some experience as a maize plant before.

“Not to mention, we have no idea where the fucker is,” Will reminded. “And how are you even getting pass Bryce?”

“Shadow-travel.” Reyna stood up and started rummaging through her backpack. She tossed Nico her t-shirt. “Change your t-shirt. He’s wants you first and will be coming after you before either of us. My scent should help confuse him for a bit. And he wants me alive, so I should be able to hold him off for a while.”

Will chuckled quietly before slinging his bow around his shoulder. “Oh, great. Bait duty again. Always has to be me, doesn’t it? But, a plan’s a plan. And better a plan than no plan.”

“Will.” Nico walked right up to the son of Apollo and looked him straight in the eye. “Please, I beg you, please don’t kill him.”

“You know, I wasn’t actually planning to kill him in the first place. I was just listing out the possibilities,” Will laughed before pulling him into a brief but tight hug. “Non-lethal arrows, it is.”

The door groaned and creaked louder and louder as Bryce launched repeated assaults against it. It wasn’t going to be long before it finally gave way.

“You’ve not much time.” Reyna hurriedly draped a cloth over Nico’s left shoulder. Her cape still glimmered and glowed with the power of Athena’s blessing. Nico didn’t even have time to thank her when he felt a sudden peck on his forehead. “Stay safe. Go!”

Nico turned and ran into an unlit corner, closing his eyes and letting the darkness envelop him in all its coldness. It felt like an hour but Nico knew that time had barely passed when he crashed landed onto the marble floor of the Hall of Mirrors. He was just as surprised to see Octavian still sitting down like the smug snake he was as Octavian was seeing him appear out of nowhere.

“How are…How did you…You killed him?!” 

“No, he’s alive,” Nico growled acidly as he drew his sword. “But I can’t say the same for you.”

He swung his blade in a wide arc around him that should have had Octavian within its reach but it became rather clear to Nico that the former augur had not been idle during his disappearance. Octavian was uncharacteristically nimble when he rolled out of his seat and swept Nico off his feet. Drawing his knife, he lunged at him but Nico managed to get onto his knees in time to deflect the blade. The glinting edge hanged just a matter of inches away from Nico’s throat. Noticing exposed Octavian’s abdomen, Nico clenched his fist and landed a direct blow that threw him back a good distance.

Octavian’s hairless brow crinkled with vexation as he backed away from Nico. He certainly could have done with some facial reconstruction, Nico mused to himself. Strangely enough, despite all his burns and scars, Octavian still maintained that hateful serpentine look that made Nico queasy when they first met. Needless to say, Nico still did want to punch him in the face, even harder now after what he did to Jason.

“So, you want to fight me instead of your dog?” Octavian spat.

“You’re more of a dog than Jason ever was.” Nico started to circle Octavian and Octavian did the same. He reached under his long coat to retrieve a spear of some kind. It was a lot shorter than the usual Greek sarisa or the Roman pilum, about six feet long with a rather ornate head with carvings of the sun. Octavian always was a pompous arse. The fact that the sharpened head was obviously made out of Imperial gold didn’t escape Nico.

“Nice spear.”

“Spontoon. Not that you would know anyway. Pretty, isn’t it though? An heirloom of Apollo’s children, passed down from Louis XIV himself.”

“It’s pretty,” Nico admitted. A sly smirk slowly materialised on his face. “Unlike its owner.”

“Shut up!” Octavian screamed furiously before charging at Nico. He thrust his weapon at Nico who leapt back to avoid being skewered. Nico realised that he must have had touched a nerve when Octavian kept on the attack, swinging his weapon wildly and preventing Nico from even counterattacking. “You knew that this was going to happen to me, all the pain and agony, do you even know how it feels like to be burnt alive? I do. And I hated every moment of it. And you just stood there and didn’t even bother warning me.”

“You did it to yourself!” Nico flinched as he took a nick and felt warm blood sluice down his arms. He knew that he needed to get back on the attack and his opportunity came when Octavian thrust his spontoon a little too far. His free hand grabbed the exposed shaft and he actually managed to swing Octavian into a mirror, cracking it. “And for all the crimes you did, you actually deserve worse.”

Octavian wiped the blood that spilled from the side of his mouth. “You talk a lot for a weakling who likes it in the –“

He never finished his sentence because Nico had stepped forward fast and connected his fist to Octavian’s jaw, staggering him. Regaining his feet, Octavian hurled himself on to Nico with a ferocious roar befitting an animal, throwing thrust after thrust at Nico. Such was his fierceness that while Nico dodged and parried his attacks, he couldn’t land a decisive blow of his own. Both demigods were locked together many times, faces snarling just inches from each other, wrestling for control and occasionally staggering back only to hurl themselves at each other with renewed vigour. Octavian may have been motivated by revenge but Nico too was fighting to free his beloved. Just the thought of Jason’s roaring in agony while being tortured by the slimeball that was Octavian made his blood boil. All the tips and tricks that Jason had taught Nico were coming into play as he started to land small cuts onto Octavian’s body. 

_Use your opponent’s anger against him – you can’t fight effectively when you’re throwing a fit._

Leaping off the ground, Octavian raised his weapon to land a heavy blow that would have chopped off Nico’s left arm if not for the cape that protected it. As the blow glanced harmlessly off his shoulder, Nico saw his chance. Octavian’s momentum was carrying his weight forward uncontrollably. Nico tripped up Octavian’s heels and sent him sprawling face down onto the marble. He had lost grip of his spontoon which Nico kicked a safe distance away.  
“If you’re looking for a weakling, look in the mirror. You’ve lost,” Nico growled.

A soft snicker emanated from the defeated demigod. “I’ve lost nothing.” Octavian raised his head to reveal his face lit up with bitter triumph. A small silver whistle hung between his lips. “I wanted to kill you personally, but now that I think about it, it would be more fun to see you being ripped from limb to limb.”

A low guttural animalistic growl behind Nico sent chills down his spine. Within a blink of an eye, he was thrown head-first at a mirror before being flung into a column. He didn’t even have time to blink when a clawed hand gripped his throat and pushed him up against a wall so that he looked right into the cruel golden eyes of the werewolf he once knew as Jason Grace, best friend, partner and mate. 

“Jason!” Nico whizzed. “I know you’re in there. Please! You have to listen!” As he spoke he tried to manoeuvre his sword into a position where he could maybe jab Bryce in the foot but a sudden rash movement drew the werewolf’s attention. 

Nico screamed in excruciating pain as Bryce dug his claws into his lower right arm and ripped it right open, exposing vessels and muscle alike. All the pain that Nico had gone through his entire life, nothing could compare to this. Blood immediately gushed out of the wound like a fountain, splattering onto the floor. Moving his fingers was close to impossible; it felt like his arm was being torn apart by a thousand mini-chainsaws. He could actually feel his blood and part of his life force pouring out of the gaping wound. 

“How does it feel, di Angelo?” Octavian sneered. “To be in pain and completely helpless?”

Jolts of pain were shooting through Nico’s entire body but he still managed to turn his head toward Octavian, sticking out his chin defiantly. “Vaffanculo.”

“Finish him off.”

“With pleasure,” Bryce smiled wickedly. He lowered his claws so that they hovered just above Nico’s abdomen. Nico’s face grew pale as he realised his intentions.

“Jason! Please! I need you!” Nico looked Bryce straight in the eye, looking for traces of blue that he knew and loved. He prayed to the gods that he was right that Jason was still somewhere in there. He needed to be in there. Nico needed Jason.

Nico’s eyes bulged from their sockets and his teeth clenched as Bryce thrust his fingers into his belly and ripped the skin apart. He wanted to scream but the agony was causing him to drift in and out of consciousness. The pain of the wound in his arm was all but gone when Nico felt Bryce hooking his finger around his lower rib and pulled at it. He couldn’t think; the intense pain was hazing his mind. His eyes rolled back into his head when he heard the cracking of bone. He just wanted to end this all quickly. He wanted to die. Tears of pain coursed down his cheek as he whimpered weakly, “Jason, please.”

“Nico?”

The son of Hades opened his eyes, though it was hard given how brimmed with tears they were. It was like a dream, finding himself staring right into a familiar pair of lightning blue eyes. They were scared and horrified, but at least they were Jason’s. Even in this worst pain, Nico felt his heart doing a small leap. His prayers had not got unanswered.

“What have I done?!” Jason carefully retracted his claws before gently laying Nico onto the ground, careful not to hurt him any further. Seeing Nico’s blood on his claws made him want to collapse onto his knees or just slit his own throat. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Nico!” An arrow sliced through the air and embedded itself in the flesh of Jason’s shoulder. Jason roared in pain as a bruised and battered Reyna drew her sword and stormed toward him. Seeing Nico on the verge of disembowelment certainly had the capability of throwing her into an enraged frenzy.

“Reyna! It’s me!” Jason threw up his arms to defend himself against her ferocious attacks. “You need to listen to me!”

“Jason?” Reyna stopped her blade in mid-air.

Jason clasped his head between his hands, growling as his eyes kept switching between blue and gold. Nico knew that Jason was fighting tooth and nail with Bryce for control of his body. He flinched as Will slowly pulled him away from the action and helped him onto a bench. The entirety of his body was burning with pain, his heart throbbing hard to keep the blood in him flowing. Will didn’t say anything as he examined his wounds but Nico knew that there were some wounds even this expert medic couldn’t heal.

“Reyna! You have to take him far away from me!” Jason bellowed.

“Is there any way we can get him out of you?”

“Kill me!” Jason was shifting in and out of his werewolf form. His right eye was blue but his left was golden. Nico noticed the golden was starting to shift toward and overlap with the blue. Jason was running out of time.

“Will, I need to talk to him.” Nico was wheezing and his pulse was quickening to a dangerous level. The bandage that Will was pressing against his wound had turned a vivid scarlet within a matter of seconds.He knew he needed immediate medical attention but Jason’s life was at stake and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

“Seriously, Nico, I don’t think talking will save the day this time round. Stay down.”

Nico’s eyes shot open. He couldn’t do it, but she could.

_Till the past love speaks, the wolf shall devour all._

“I think I know who might.”

* * *

  
“Piper! Stop! We need your help!” Nico screamed despite his fatigue. His body was wet with sweat and blood. He was on the verge of entering a coma but he still had a tiny bit of strength left flowing through his veins. His heart was palpitating wildly as the result of seeing Piper drive her dagger wildly into Jason’s back again and again. He knew that shadow-travelling everyone right into her cabin would have unpleasant consequences, but he didn’t really suspect her to be that impulsive.

Piper’s face was pale ashen. No doubt she was terrified when her ex-boyfriend suddenly fell through the cabin roof along with Nico, Reyna, Will and Octavian. It didn’t help that Jason had a kill-on-sight order issued for him. After all, the last time she had seen him, he left quite a trail of destruction in his path. She did stop stabbing Jason however to glare at Nico.

“What…Why did you bring him back here?!”

“He’s been possessed by Bryce Lawrence. Do your charmspeak thing or something!” Reyna shouted. She pressed her knee onto Octavian who had been trying to crawl away and held her sword to his throat.

“Hurry up!” Will tightened his grip around Jason’s back as Bryce regained control of Jason’s body. He was clinging on for dear life as Bryce roared and thrashed around, trying to dislodge him.

“Bryce, stop!” Piper ordered.

The werewolf froze.

Piper swallowed down the lump that was in her throat. “Swear on the Styx that you shall leave Jason’s body this instant!”

Bryce growled.

“Swear it!”

“No!” Octavian was writhing and howling under Reyna’s knee. Nico couldn’t help smirking. She no doubt wanted to bring him back alive to New Rome for a fair trial. 

“You shall return to the Underworld where you belong and will never leave.”

Jason’s eyes started to regain their blue colour as Bryce’s spirit vacated his body. “I shall return to the Underworld where I belong and will never leave.” Immediately after uttering the last word, Jason collapsed onto his knees and fell on his face. Free. After so long.

“Traitor!” 

“Stop him!” Reyna had somehow been thrown off by Octavian who had drawn his knife and directed a murderous gaze at Nico. His blazing eyes were seething with anger when he lunged at the werewolf. He had done too much and gone too far to see his plans fail and if he couldn’t win, at least he would bring his hated enemy down with him. 

“No!” Jason scrambled to his feet, terror flashing across his face as Octavian raised his knife above Nico’s chest. And vanished. As did Nico. For a moment at least before he came crashing down again and landed hard on the floor. He murmured quietly, “Lost in the darkness.”

Jason didn’t care that his head hurt. He didn’t care that a large chunk of flesh was missing from his shoulder. He didn’t care that his body was like a martyr’s, stained with red and covered with bloody gashes and cuts. His mind was only focused on the limp body that laid next to him. Despite the agony of mere movement, he still crawled his way through the dirt toward his mate. 

“Nico. Wake up. Please. Wake up!” His voice, normally so firm and confident, was quavering uncontrollably. He carefully and gently cradled Nico in his arms, feeling his heart skip a beat when Nico opened his eyes.

A small smile slipped onto the son of Hades’ face. “Your eyes…”

“It’s me, Nico. Just me.” He managed a painful grin to assure his mate. Jason flinched as a bloodied hand stroked his cheek lovingly, wiping away a tear that was making its way down. He looked down. A dark scarlet streak was staining Nico’s t-shirt. Octavian’s knife was still embedded in Nico’s side, all the way down to the hilt.

“Somebody help!” 

Nico threw his head back onto the ground. “It hurts…It’s that bad, isn’t it?”

“Please…hold on! Help is coming! You’re gonna be alright!”

“I’m sorry but - I can’t heal quickly like you.”

“No! Stay with me, Nico!” Jason’s face was twisted in deep anguish, his heart was ripping itself into shreds. He had never wanted this to happen, not now and definitely not like this. He didn’t know how he could even live with himself after what he had done to his best friend, lover and mate. Even as he started to dissolve into tears, he whispered only for Nico to hear, “Please. Don’t leave me. I – I love you.”

“I know, Jason.” Nico’s teeth clenched to suppress the intense pain in his side but he still managed to reach into his dirt-stained t-shirt to pull out his camp necklace. Cold sharp despair buried itself deep in the remains of Jason’s heart like a wicked knife when he saw what Nico had slipped into his hand. The wolf pendant. “I never did leave you, you know?”

With those final words, Nico’s eyes slid close. No one said a word or moved a muscle as the werewolf buried his face in the chest of his mate and wept bitterly. A wrenched cry of tormented anguish tore apart the silence of that cold Christmas night.


	16. Chapter 16

So, they were right. The journey into the afterlife did start off with a bright white light, after all. Funny, Nico thought to himself. The last person he had seen babbling about a light was a dying Methodist reverend. Nico’s head hurt a little when he thought about it too hard. He wondered whether this was some form of purgatory, a waiting room perhaps before Charon came around in his ferry to pick him up. The answer was out of his reach but it didn’t really matter. All he wanted to was just lay back and enjoy the cold, comfortable sheets that laid under him. But wait. A tall dark figure had entered his line of sight. His vision was fuzzy but Nico felt that he had seen the figure somewhere before. A familiar face.

“Mama?”

“’Papa’ would be the correct term actually.”

Nico’s eyes shot wide open to find the god of the Underworld sitting rather calmly at the end of his bed. Hades wore a mildly amused look with an eyebrow slightly raised. He seemed rather out of place in with his traditional Greek long robes in a modern setting, especially with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart playing on the TV screen above him. Nico surveyed his surroundings. This was no afterlife. This was a hospital, the furniture and strong medicinal scent confirmed it. A digital clock that sat on the bedside table showed 11.17 p.m.

Hades leaned forward to look his son right in the eye. He was looking his usual doom and gloom with stress lines written all over his forehead like a SAT paper but Nico thought he saw a glint of concern in his dark brooding eyes. 

“Thanatos said that…your name kept appearing on and disappearing from his list. Since Persephone’s back from her mom’s, I thought I’d let her run things down below while I popped up to check on you.” Hades paused and cracked his fingers. “How are you feeling?”

Nico tried to move his head a little higher on his pillow but immediately, a painful grimace came upon his face when a sharp pain jabbed at his side.

“Oh, for crying out loud, stay down! You’re not fully healed yet!” Hades scolded. Despite his disapproving shake of the head, he still stood up and walked over to Nico’s side before helping him shift his head to a more comfortable position. 

Nico slipped his hand under his shirt and felt his side. Amid all the smooth skin was a ridge of scar tissue that had grown over where Octavian had stabbed him. Nico wondered whether the bastard was still alive somehow in the darkness where he had left him. A fate worse than death in any case. He shifted his hand to his stomach. A line of stitches sealed the wound where Jason had nearly disembowelled him. The memory of that agonising moment was still fresh in Nico’s mind, haunting him like an unwelcomed phantom. But it reminded him of something more important, something he held closer to heart. Nico turned to face his father.

“Is Jason okay?”

Instantly, Hades’ face darkened into a sour scowl. His eyes were practically smouldering with a lethal cocktail that only a really pissed-off father could come up with. “You just _had_ to mention him, didn’t you?”

Nico sighed. “Father –“

“For your mother’s sake, don’t ‘father!’ me. The only reason he’s still alive is because you are! If you’d died...” Hades paused to calm his clearly jilted nerves. “I’ll just put it very nicely, that he would have wished that he was given a quick, merciful death instead of the fate that I _will_ not hesitate in delivering to him.”

Nico immediately protested, “It wasn’t his fault!”

“Of course it was!”

“He wasn’t in control of his actions!”

“Then all the more reason why he’s responsible for all that you went through!” The god of the Underworld was bellowing ferociously when a nurse stepped in to see what the commotion was about. A single death glare from him was enough to force her to beat a retreat. “If someone lights a house on fire, be it deliberately or not, will you still let him go unpunished?!”

“I don’t hold him responsible –“ Nico shouted, not the least bit intimidated by his father.

“I do!” The dresser shook violently when Hades slammed his fist onto its top. “As far as I see it, he’s to be held responsible for all that happened to you and he deserves every ounce of punishment for it. And I’ll personally oversee it, perhaps inflict it to remind him of all the pain you went through.”

Nico’s fist tightened around his bed’s side rail. Hades wanted a shouting match. Two could play at that game. “I’ll not let you punish Jason!”

Hades stalked toward his son, seemingly growing in height to purposely tower over Nico. Fire as dark as shadows blazed dangerously in his eyes like an ironmonger’s furnace. “Why shouldn’t I? And who are _you_ to tell me who I should and shouldn’t punish?” he growled bitterly. The small orchid that had sat on the bedside table had wilted away into a black pile of compost. Nico knew that he was a few seconds away from sharing the same fate, probably by being reduced to a heap of smouldering cinders. He didn’t care.

“Your son.”

That answer seemed to catch Hades for surprise, for a brief moment, he seemed genuinely stumped, flabbergasted. Then, he threw back his hand as if he wanted to strike Nico across the face. Instead of flinching, Nico just stared at his father witheringly, close to daring him to do it. For a full minute, both Nico and his father were engaged in a battle of death glares, goading each other to make the first move. The battle ended with Hades just sighing and throwing up his hands in disgusted resignation. “Oh, Maria. What am I to do with him?” he groaned before slumping back into his chair. 

“Father, if you are laying the blame on him so much, why did you even send Hestia to help me in the first place?” asked Nico, somewhat surprised that his obstinacy had gone unpunished. It did slowly dawn upon him that his father, while scathingly denigrating at times, never had resorted to physical punishment or violence when it came to either him or Hazel.

“Because you would have gone anyway, with or without my blessing. I knew that the moment I saw you unconscious after he escaped. Letting you go without direction could have resulted in a disaster for the three of you,” Hades muttered. A heavy sigh then escaped his parted lips. “I suppose I should blame myself. For your stubborn streak, I mean. It seems to run in the blood. I probably should know better than to expect less from you though, especially from all you’ve been through. But at the very least, you did inherit something from your mother.”

Nico sat forward with some difficulty but it was intriguing to hear his father talk about his mother, a rare event. “What did I inherit?”

Hades said nothing. Instead, he rose and walked over to the window to watch the late night traffic down below. For a while, all Nico could hear was his own breathing and Jon Stewart giving a verbal evisceration to Arby’s. 

“Her heart. Her heart was always in the right place, and she always did see beyond people’s outer appearances as she did mine.” 

Hades turned away from the window. His face was oddly glum, close to downcast. It was not often that the god of the Underworld looked sad, especially when he was stereotyped to be a fuming, bitter god, which he basically was 99% of the time. “It’s probably the same thing with you and him. Don’t take this the wrong way. I said that I wanted to you to be happy and I still do, but I also want you to be safe. To be happy and to be safe are not mutually inclusive.”

“Father, I always did feel safe around Jason.” Nico knew that it would take a literal eternity for Hades to ever get along with Jason but just to get him to understand how intimate Jason was with Nico would be adequate. “And he was always trying to make me happy. And I don’t think that has changed and will ever change.”

“Ugh! Young love,” Hades complained. “Curse Eros and his delusions. I shall be frank with you. The way I see it, your _boyfriend_ is a beast, and a dangerous one at that. Maybe he’ll be all cuddly and playful with you but what happened to you that day is just an indicator of what he can become. If I were you, I’d seriously reconsider my choices.”

He paused. “But then again, perhaps you’re right. Perhaps he is indeed sincere in his feelings for you and does mean well. I’m generally not the best judge of people, after all. But I still do not trust him and you should not ever expect me to.”

“I know he’s sincere. He accepted me for what I am, and I’ll accept him for what he is.” Nico still remembered his exchange with Jason at Notus’ palace very vividly. It was something that was hard to forget, to know that someone didn’t judge him and had his back.

“Fine. So be it.” Hades shrugged. His face did darken a bit when he leaned forward. “But be aware, if he ever hurts you like this again, he’ll wish that he was never born in the first place.”

“He won’t.”

“He’d better not. In all honesty, I have no idea where he is. Possibly back at the camp. I don’t know. I don’t really care either. Your sister should know. Hazel has been staying at Camp Half-Blood since last year. I’ll summon her to come see you tomorrow morning.”

“Wait, last year?” Nico wondered whether a week had passed since Christmas. It was likely that he had been knocked out for quite a while.

“Yes. Last year. Happy New Year!” Hades cheered snidely.

“How long have I been out?”

“Well, today’s the 27th of May, so five months.”

Nico nearly shot up out of his bed but his wounds immediately forced him back down. Five months. Nearly half a year had gone by and it had felt just like a week to him. Time could be quite the arse. And for a demigod, a lot of things could have changed within five months. He needed to get back to the camp ASAP. He needed to know what had happened to Jason. Was he fine? How was he coping with his absence? More importantly, did Jason hold himself responsible for what had happened to him? Nico didn’t want to return to the camp to find that Jason had been slitting his wrists.

“You seem to have quite the tendency of getting knocked out, don’t you?” 

Nico shrugged his shoulders. “If it’s for a good cause, I feel it’s fine.”

“Please. I don’t recall Perseus, Theseus or Nelson being knocked out for months without end. Okay, maybe the last one did end up losing an arm and an eye but you can’t possibly be trying to be known as the comatose hero.”

“It’s not my fault my powers are extremely exerting!” An annoyed Nico pointed out.

“No, it’s definitely your fault that you don’t know how to properly control and exert them! You’d do with a good lesson or two. Speaking of lessons,” Hades seemed to be smirking slyly, very much alarming Nico. “Once you’ve recovered, you’re to go down to the Underworld. It’s high time that I think of your formal education. You’re getting home-schooled!”

“But, father, I –“

“No buts! The last time a child of mine failed to enter art school...” Hades then mumbled something about someone not wanting to be an architect. “Needless to say, you’re definitely going to college, whether you like it or not! And if you try not to turn up, I’m sending Alecto after you!”

“But what about Jason?” While he did understand his father’s intentions, he didn’t really enjoy his free time being taken away from him. Especially if it meant less time spent with Jason.

“You should really stop mentioning him around me,” Hades warned. “Gives me the urge to castrate a particular werewolf. You’ll have your weekends. And you can go back to camp every night. And don’t you dare sneak him down into my palace again! You two have left far too many stains and tears in far too many bed sheets for even me to tolerate! Do I look like Aphrodite to you?! He’s definitely not allowed down there any time soon!”

Nico had nothing to say to that. He was turning a bright shade of pink though. He was obviously not going to admit it to his father but it was kind of his fault due to the fact he was the one who goaded Jason into being more adventurous and daring with their nightly escapades. And what was more taboo than to fuck in the Underworld right under Hades’ nose (metaphorically)? 

Hades rose. “I’ll inform your sister that you’ve regained consciousness. Knowing her, she’ll be visiting you first thing in the morning. I might also be leaving some New Year gifts in your cabin.” He opened up a portal of swirling shadows in the wall but as he turned to leave, Nico spoke.

“Father?”

“What?!”

“Thanks.”

A small, satisfied smile pulled at Hades’ mouth but he quickly put on a frown to hide it. “Whatever. Just turn up for your lessons or else!” He then stepped into his portal and disappeared.

With his father gone, Nico breathed a sigh of relief, but there was only one thing in his mind at the moment. 

“I really should have changed the sheets.”


	17. Chapter 17

“So, I was like, ‘Who the heck hired this Chippendale dancer?!’ and he was like, ‘That Reyna girl did!’ and I was like, ‘What?!’. Seriously, you should have seen what he was wearing. I had to force him to wear a shirt and a pair of gym shorts before allowing him to come in any further into New Rome. I still have nightmares just thinking about him.”

Hazel glanced over her shoulder to look at her brother who sat quietly in the backseat. Nico didn’t seem to be responding to Frank’s friendly banter which was odd since he was uncharacteristically jumpy an hour before. He had been dying to get out of the confining hospital to return to camp but now, it seemed that his mind was wandering over the hills and faraway. His face had a pensive look to it, but she suspected rather correctly what was going on in his mind.

When Hazel broke the news of Jason’s condition to him, Nico felt his heart sink a little. He had fervently held on to the hope that Jason wouldn’t blame himself for all that had happened. He might as well have hoped for it to rain peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. She hadn’t revealed the true extent of his behaviour, but Jason had apparently gone into a near ‘shut-down’ mode after he had slipped into a coma. For the past few months, she had been trying to get him to talk but he barely spoke, and barely did anything for the matter. All he had been doing throughout these past months, even during the cold winter and the wet spring, was just laying down on Cabin 13’s porch, almost as if he was waiting for a particular someone to come home.

Nico pressed his face against the car window, staring at nothing. The bright rays of the summer sun were gently pressing down on his olive skin, its warmth a welcomed change from the refrigerator-like hospital. He could his heart flutter a little when he saw Half-Blood Hill growing closer and closer with each mile. There was no certainty to what would happen once his eyes met Jason’s. If only the Fates were kind, things would go back to the way they were. Nico was not stupid. The Fates were never kind. Nico knew that nothing would ever be the same between him and Jason, but whether for better or for worse, that remained to be seen.

“Hey, Nico?” Frank peered at him through his rearview mirror. “You okay, there, man?”

Nico nodded. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”

Hazel and Frank looked at each other, silently discussing whether they should say or do something to cheer Nico up. Eventually, they decided on doing nothing. Nico clearly needed some quiet time to clear his thoughts.

The car eventually slowed to a halt outside the Big House. The house looked quintessentially pretty with its fresh coat of paint and a new door to replace the one Jason had destroyed. Nico sighed as he slung his bag around his shoulder and pushed open the car door. His eyes idly wandered down to the cabins across the creek. Most of the campers were back from their holidays and everything was in full-swing. He was just about to thank Frank for the ride when the feeling of being watched washed over him. Immediately, his gaze turned toward his cabin where his eyes met Jason’s.

The sadness that was embedded in Jason’s eyes quickly wiped away the brief surge of elation that had sprung up inside of Nico. Jason’s eyes were always expressive, but they had never been as expressive as they were just then. The look that Jason wore that moment was unmistakable. Nico knew what he was feeling. He was no stranger to these feelings as well. Shame. Disgust. Anger. Jason’s pain was eating him from the inside out. There was no mistaking it. Nico watched with his heart in his throat as Jason got to his feet and left the porch, slowly walking away toward the beach with hands in his pockets and his head bowed.

“You need to talk to him.” Hazel took her brother’s hand and squeezed it gently. “I think he’s having trouble forgiving himself for what he did to you.”

Nico shook his head. “He didn’t do anything to me. Bryce did.”

“Yes, but he still blames himself and thinks you do too.”

Nico let out a frustrated sigh. He knew that he shouldn’t have been expecting a reunion a la a romantic-comedy with him and Jason running at each other before jumping into each other’s arms. But, it didn’t hurt to dream, did it? Sure, it was a childish dream but still. The pain that was written all over Jason’s face was no dream, or rather, nightmare, though. Nico’s bag dropped onto the ground with a light thud as he started running.

* * *

  
Jason had very deliberately chosen this particular spot to rest his feet and wait. It was a good spot, a fallen tree trunk that was sheltered from the scorching rays of the summer sun by the heavy shade of the trees above. The trunk was hollow, long eaten out by termites and rotted away by time. It was cool, comfortable, a perfect spot for a picnic or a romantic rendezvous. It was also a good place to meet and talk, which was why Jason had come here in the first place.

He rather carelessly sat down on the trunk, his face toward the ocean. The view was flawless, close to panoramic; an artist’s wet dream. He closed his eyes, letting his other senses dominate. The sound of waves crashing against the shore was strangely therapeutic and the flowing of water a relaxing swish. The smell of sea salt in the air was purifying as it brought moisture to the lightly dry air. The camp was in full-swing this summer with even more demigods being taken in this year. The raucous noise of demigods at play and at work managed to reach him even here, far away from the centre of activity.

Then, a scent, a sickeningly sweet, addicting scent, started to intoxicate him. It had been so long since Jason had truly enjoyed Nico’s scent. Fresh flowers, incense and scented candles. Many memories, both sweet and bitter, precious and mundane, began to resurface in Jason’s mind, which made it all the more painful for him to know what he was going to bring upon himself.

* * *

  
Nico sat silently by Jason’s side. Jason didn’t seem to react or even notice his presence but Nico knew better than to think just that. He probably had picked up his scent from a mile away. Not a word was exchanged between the two of them for several minutes, both boys waiting for the other to make the first move. Nico didn’t know what to say. What could he say? What did he have to say? It felt strange, not having a word to say despite having a whole lot of things he wanted to say. The sun continued its march to the west throughout their silence.

After what felt like an eternity to Nico, a strong, gentle hand made its way to Nico’s which laid by his side. Nico felt Jason’s fingers slowly travelling up his hand and onto his arm. His head remained bowed, but from the corner of his eye, he could see Jason studying his skin, seemingly examining every square inch of it, like an exploring child. His fingers were lightly dancing up Nico’s arm when they finally came to a stop at the scar that was stretched into a long brown ridge. Immediately, Jason pulled back his hand, as if spooked by the sight of the wound.

Nico just wanted to pull Jason into a hug and kiss him, comfort him but this didn’t seem the right time to do so. He was reminded of the time he had spent with Jason in the basement, just before everything went to hell. The same feeling of helplessness that haunted him then haunted him now. He hated it. But he had to try.

“Jason, look at me.”

Jason didn’t look up. His gaze was riveted to the ground.

“Please,” Nico spoke gently and tenderly but there was the unmistakeable hint of firmness in his voice.

“Why?” asked Jason, sounding distant and lifeless. Nothing at all like what he would have sounded like half a year ago. What had Octavian done to the strong and confident leader that Nico fell in love with?

“I want to see you.”

For a moment, Jason hesitated. But slowly, he raised his head so that Nico could look right at him. His gaze desperately averted Nico’s but Nico wouldn’t have it. Without asking, Nico lifted his hand to Jason’s face. Resting it under Jason’s strong jaw, he let his thumb caress his boyfriend’s cheek in a slow, soothing motion. Immediately, the effects were visible. Jason’s tense shoulders relaxed and for a brief moment, a carefree and confident look returned to him.

It didn’t last long. Lightning blue eyes met dark brown eyes in an unexpected crossing of gazes. Nico gasped. Broken. Haunted. Jason’s eyes told Nico everything. He had been shattered to the core. Like Nico had been before. Even a year later, Tartarus still haunted his nightmares. Whatever Jason had been through, it had a far worse toll than Nico had expected or imagined. It was going to take a while to fix whatever was left of Jason.

Rather unexpectedly, Jason placed his hand over Nico’s. Jason tried to keep his eyes on Nico but they were almost instinctively averting him. “Are you okay?”

“Jason,” said Nico. “You look like shit.”

“I kind of feel like it,” Jason agreed with a low rumble of a laugh. His usual neat and kempt appearance seemed to be a thing of the past at the moment. A mess of uncombed and unwashed hair crowned his head and his eyes were bloodshot, Nico was unsure whether it was due to crying or the lack of sleep. He could have been easily mistaken for a roadside hobo if not for the reasonably clean t-shirt that he wore and the silver dagger on his side.

“What happened to you?”

It took a millisecond for Nico to quickly regret asking that question. The small, sad smile that was momentarily on Jason’s face was instantly wiped away to be replaced with a wounded look. Jason’s head sunk miserably into his chest and his shoulders slumped.

“Too much,” whispered Jason. “Just too much.”

Nico wished that he could do something more than just sit and listen. He was no shrink. It’d be pleasant if he could come up with some deep, poetic stuff to lift Jason’s spirits but he was a child of the Underworld, not Freud. Remembering that he had Jason’s camp necklace with him, Nico fumbled around in his side pocket, looking for it and found it. “I think this belongs to you.”

Jason’s face darkened with pain but he still managed a smile. He took it and promptly forced it back into Nico’s open hand before closing his fingers around it. “Keep it. It’ll be something to remember me by once I’m gone.”

“Once you’re gone?” Nico’s breathing grew shallow. “What are you say –“

Nico flinched as he suddenly found Jason brushing his lips against his. At first, Nico wanted to push him away to demand answers but the realisation that this was his first kiss after so long made him decide to just lay back and enjoy the moment. It had been so long since he felt the way he did right that moment.

Jason was kissing him slowly, letting the spark that travelled down Nico’s spine last longer. He could feel his hair being played with and run through by Jason’s fingers. The warmth of Jason’s breath brought back so many sweet memories, some more intimate than others but all sweet to the core. Nico whimpered a little when Jason finally broke the kiss but his attention was quickly diverted when Jason finally answered his question.

“Nico, I don’t plan on staying around for much longer.”

“You’re leaving camp?” asked Nico, surprised. He thought Jason had made up his mind that his heart was more in place at Camp Half-Blood than at Camp Jupiter.

“Not camp.”

“New York?” Nico’s lips were growing dry to the bone.

Jason just shook his head.

“Me?” A lonely sob broke into his voice. If he had gotten struck by a thunderbolt from Zeus right then, he probably wouldn’t have cared or even noticed.

“Do you really think I would do that?” Jason chuckled softly. He soothingly ran his fingers through Nico’s inky black locks before pulling him into a tight hug. “I wish there was another way. But I just can’t take it anymore. I’m sorry.”

The silver dagger seemed to glint sinisterly at Nico.

Time seemed to stop around the son of Hades. Cracks started to grow on his already fragile heart, his mind whirling with the cogs in his head trying to process what Jason had just said to him, but he knew what Jason meant. For a while, they both sat in silence, Jason letting it sink in and Nico trying to form thoughts. Nico struggled to find words. Something. Anything. The only thing he could finally come up with was, “I can’t let you do this.”

Jason held up his hands, looking at them. “Nico, don’t you understand? These hands, they have shed innocent blood.” His entire body was shaking as he spoke. “I don’t even know how many I killed or who they were but I still remember their screams. Gods, the screams. Every night when I try to close my eyes, all I hear is the screaming. I try to shut them out but they won’t stop. They won’t stop!”

“Jason, please! Just stop! Everything you did wasn’t your fault! It was Bryce’s!” Nico was blinking excessively, trying to hold back the tears. He shook Jason, trying to snap him out of this delirious state. Everything he had done, the lengths he had gone to save Jason, he didn’t want it all to be for nothing.

“I know. But I still did it,” Jason whispered. “Out there, somewhere, people are waiting for their loved ones to come home, but they never will because of me. And it’s just not the screams. It’s the taste. I still remember the taste. The blood. The flesh. And I actually enjoyed it...but when I saw what he was planning to do to you...I couldn’t let him do it. Just couldn’t. But I should have fought him from the start. And I didn’t.”

“Jason...” A giant lump had shot into Nico’s throat and tears were creeping into his eyes. The true horror of what Jason had been through started to leave its mark on Nico but this didn’t have to end this way. He didn’t want it to.

“I’m sorry, Nico. I really am. But I have to do this. It’s the right thing to do. To keep everyone safe. And you,” Jason murmured before smiling sadly at Nico. “Just keep me in your prayers, okay? You’ll find someone else to take care of you, I know you’ll. But please, just don’t forget me. I love -”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Nico slapped him. Hard.

“Who cares who loves me?! I love you!” he screamed fiercely. Hot tears of grief and rage were streaming down his face, his chin quavering uncontrollably. He started to realise that the Fates never did plan for him to have a happy ending. Maybe his sole purpose in life was to be fucked over again and again. “Don’t do this! We will go through this together! We can go talk to Chiron, just anything but this! Please!”

“Nico, I’ve already made up my mind.”

“Fuck you!” Before Jason could draw another breath, Nico was on top of him, raining blow after blow on him. His punches didn’t hurt, but Jason didn’t even bother fighting back anyway, just hanging his head in shame. “I want you to live!”

“Why?” Jason mumbled, dolefully. “What for?”

“For me. For me.” Nico choked as his heart started to crumble into dust. He wanted to hate Jason right there and then. He wanted to, but he couldn't. He loved him too much for that but still, he felt betrayed. What had he done to deserve this accursed fate?

Jason’s eyes widened as a tearful Nico got off him and started staggering off through the woods. The look of tormented despair on Nico’s face was shaking him to the core. Those beautiful eyes of his, so filled with pain. What had he done? He had hoped for this to be easier for both him and Nico but he was dead wrong. Now more than ever, he was certain that he didn’t deserve to live, yet he deserved to die even less. Why seek relief in death when he had betrayed the heart of one of the sweetest souls in this world? His best friend, his lover, his mate. What had he done?

“Nico!”


	18. Chapter 18

“Nico! Wait! Stop!”

Nico didn’t stop. He didn’t even try to evade the branches that whipped his face and body mercilessly. He didn’t even know where he was going and he paid enough attention only to avoid running into a tree or a rock. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to do. All he wanted to be was to be as far away from Jason as possible.

Why, Jason? He thought he knew him, he had let him love him and he had loved him back, he had given up his body to him. He knew shit. 

The Fates had already taken away his mother and Bianca, how much more did they want from him? It wasn’t just the Fates this time around though, it was Jason too. Nico wept as he pushed through the shrubbery and found himself within sight of his cabin. He felt pathetic and weak, with tears flowing freely down his face, exposing his weaknesses to everyone. He didn’t care. He just wanted to be alone. 

“Please! I’m sorry!” Jason was barrelling through the shrubs some feet away behind him, trying to intercept and stop him from running any further. He didn’t get the opportunity to do so. Nico tapped into the inner pain that was tearing him apart and ripped open the shadow of a tree next to him before stumbling into it.

Nico’s knees hit the dark marble of his cabin floor as he pressed his forehead onto it, sobbing bitterly. Jason wanted to end his life. And he was in here, mourning his looming demise as if Jason had already done the deed. Nico felt like a coward but he just couldn’t take it. He had lost too much. He had gone through hell and worse to get all the way here, to have a relatively happy life, and now, his boyfriend and mate was planning to take his own life.

“Nico! Please! I know you’re in there! I’m sorry!” Nico could hear Jason frantically banging on the cabin door and twisting the door knob. The commotion eventually died down but Jason continued to plead. “Can we talk? Please!”

“Wasn’t just now enough for you?!” Nico shouted back, his fists clenching and unclenching uncontrollably. Was Jason so daft not to know that he wanted to be alone? “If you’re going to tell me to handle your funeral arrangements, go fuck yourself!”

“I’m sorry, okay? What I said to you just now, it was a stupid mistake.” There was a loud thump on the porch just outside the door, as if Jason had slid down onto his knees. “Please. I need to talk to you.”

“Jason, would you just fuck off and leave me alone?!” Nico screamed in exasperation. Jason sometimes just couldn’t take the hint, could he?

Silence. There was no response from Jason this time around though Nico thought he briefly heard a faint whimper. No further sounds came from outside the door.

Weakly crawling into bed, Nico buried his face into his pillow and continued crying. The thought of Jason taking his own life made his heart shrivel into a hard, dead lump that crushed his chest with pain. Just that thought alone caused Nico to feel tempted to draw his sword and run himself through to end the permanent cycle of agony that was consuming him. Why wait for death to come for him? If he was going through this much shit now, he was probably going to be thrown into a cesspit sooner or later. His hand started reaching for the hilt of his sword.

But then, Hazel. Poor Hazel. Nico could already see how devastated and broken-hearted she would be if he ended his life. The thought of bringing pain to her made him pull back his hand. He wasn’t going to let his grief be the cause of grief to those he loved. He owed her that much. He pulled a pillow over his head. After so much crying, he was dead tired and the need for sleep eventually overcame him. But even in sleep, his mind refused to stay idle and sure enough, the small yammering voice of his conscience finally made its comeback after a very long absence.

_That was kind of a dick move._

“What?”

_Telling Jason to fuck off and leave you alone. You’re aware that those could potentially be the last words he’ll ever hear from you?_

The realisation of that possibility caused Nico to feel a sudden, sharp pang of guilt. His conscience had a point. Jason was emotionally compromised, suicidal in fact, and he had told him to fuck himself. “I was angry,” Nico murmured to himself, trying and failing to justify his behaviour. “I wasn’t thinking straight.”

_Didn’t make it any less cutting._

“I know. I just – I just can’t believe that it has come to this. With Jason, I mean. I always looked up to him, the way he carried himself and how brave he was –“

_And cute. Those blue eyes..._

“That too. But, I just don’t understand. What happened? He just seems so broken, so crushed.”

_As if you never were. And who was there to stand by your side and watch your back? Who opened up his arms to you and never gave up on you when you almost did? You’ll never realise the true horror of what Jason has gone through. Try putting yourself in his shoes. If you were forced to do horrifying things against your will, you’ll probably start losing your mind too. Count yourself lucky that he even has a semblance of sanity. Most minds would have been instantly destroyed by his ordeal._

Nico let out a mental sigh. He had been selfish. Jason needed even more help than he did and he had just pushed him away to hole up in his cabin. Add to that the extra guilt he probably heaped onto Jason through his harsh words. He had needed Jason, and now Jason needed him. If the roles were reversed...Nico knew that Jason would willingly do and give his all to help him, to restore him. He had to make things right. It was the right thing to do, as a friend, lover and mate.

_Seriously, what the hell are you still doing in bed? Get out there, find him and fix this mess! And do that before he guts himself first!_

Leaping to his feet and throwing his duvet aside, Nico could feel his heart pounding in his chest. His mouth was suddenly dry as a discomforting feeling of dread descended upon him. He needed to hurry. A quick glance at his watch showed 10.56 p.m. His stomach was grumbling for a steak but dinner was the least of Nico’s concerns. If Jason was already long gone, he would never be able to forgive himself.

The door opened with a faint creak with Nico checking out his surroundings. The camp grounds were mostly deserted with the exception of a lone satyr dashing through the torrential rain. Dark, brooding storm clouds were blocking out the stars. Nico winced when an almighty thunderclap lit up the sky. Perhaps Zeus, or rather Jupiter, was sending him a message. More likely a warning though. Nico started to push against his door but it only opened an inch before stopping. He tried to push further but it refused to budge. Something heavy was blocking his door. Someone.

Nico’s heart sank a little when he squeezed through the gap and saw who it unsurprisingly was. Jason was in his werewolf form and curled up into a tight, shivering ball. He was still keeping up his protector and guardian duty, even after all that had Nico had said. Nico couldn’t help feeling a little charmed at the thought of having his own protection detail. The small smile that was materialising on his face was quickly wiped away however when he realised Jason’s sleep was far from peaceful.

“No. Please. Stop.” Jason shook his head and snarled at nothing. His teeth were bared as if ready to attack but he sounded upset, scared even.

“Jason.” Cheesy as it was, Nico’s heart wrung with pity for his guardian when he knelt down next to the werewolf and tried to shake him awake. “Wake up.”

“I won’t,” Jason let out a low growl and swiped harmlessly at the air. “I won’t let you do this.”

Nico wasn’t sure whether Jason was talking to him but it seemed unlikely. Jason turned onto his side and whimpered. He continued murmuring ‘no’ and ‘will not let you’ as he thrashed around. Nico wished he could get Jason to wake up from his nightmare but experience had taught him that he would need an entire mariachi band to even rouse him. At the same time, he was a little concerned that he might be clawed in the face unintentionally if he forced Jason out of his sleep so abruptly.

They needed to get back inside quickly. The winds were picking up and a howling gale started to lash at them both ferociously, threatening to leave them soaking wet. Quickly, Nico took off his jacket and threw it over Jason’s already shivering body. He grabbed Jason’s arm and gave it a tug but he might have had better luck pulling Mrs. O’Leary away from an interesting fire hydrant. Jason didn’t budge at all even with Nico exerting all his strength. 

“What the fuck? What am I doing?” Nico muttered annoyed at himself when he remembered that he could shadow-travel. 

Nico quickly threw aside his already damp t-shirt and changed into a dry singlet. Jason seemed to be a little more comfortable in his bed, for his murmuring started to grow quieter before stopping altogether. He was still shivering slightly when Nico climbed into bed and threw most of the duvet over him. Despite the fact that he was a head taller than Nico, Jason looked strangely small and vulnerable (and cute) wrapped up and sleeping peacefully for once. A stark difference from where he was just a minute ago. Nico was feeling a little perky when he reminded himself that Jason had wanted and was probably still planning to take his own life. Without a word, the light was switched off and Nico climbed into his bed, his back turned toward Jason.

For a while, he just laid there in silence, thinking up of what to say to Jason once he was awake. The sound of Jason actually breathing peacefully calmed him. He was still occupied with his thoughts when two strong arms tenderly wrapped around him and pulled him into a tight hug. Jason’s broad chest pressed against Nico’s back. He was hot. Literally. Nico could feel the extraordinary heat that Jason seemed to emanate warming his back. It was a pleasant feeling though, especially with the frigid cold storm raging outside. A shudder travelled down his back when Jason started to gently nuzzle the back of his neck, rather contentedly breathing in his addictive scent. 

Nico sighed. Guilt had been following him around like a big black dog and it was time to give it the boot.

“Jason, what I said just now, I didn’t mean it. It was wrong and thoughtless and I’m – I’m sorry.” Nico paused to catch his breath. This was harder than he had imagined. “I was angry and I – I just wasn’t thinking straight, but it’s still on me, isn’t it?”

Jason said nothing.

“I shouldn’t have pushed you away. You need help and...I’m just not sure if I’m up to the task. I was selfish. And stupid. I mean, you wanted someone to talk to and I was just hiding in here, telling you to fuck off. Gods, I sometimes feel like the world’s biggest tool.”

Nico chewed his lip nervously as he waited for some kind of response from Jason, a response he wasn’t getting. Maybe his words had left a far deeper wound on Jason than he had thought. But there was no room for turning back now. 

“I don’t want to be alone. I’m sorry. I just...just can’t. You still remember what you told me on _that_ night? You said you were imagining me pregnant with your pups and us starting a family together.” Nico had to let out a smile. He would look utterly ridiculous with a big fat belly. “I kind of want it too. I mean not the pregnant part, but just for us to be together.”

Nico noticed that he was breathing rather deeply, but not so much due to lack of air as to hold back his tears. “Jason, please don’t do this. It’s just not your time. You still have so much to live for. We both do. I promise I’ll help you get through this. We’ll get through this together. We both need time. I will never understand what you went through but I’ll try my best to. But please, please don’t do this. If not for yourself, at least for me. Please.” The son of Hades closed his eyes, yet a solitary tear still meandered down his cheek and found its way to the pillow below.

“Hazel told me you have school tomorrow.” Jason mumbled as he was burying his nose in Nico’s hair and breathing in deeply.

“Fuck. Completely forgot about it.”

Jason chuckled. “So, less time for us, huh?” 

“I’ll be back in the evening. Will you still be here tomorrow?”

“I will.”

“You swear?” Nico placed his hand over Jason’s and gave it a loving squeeze.

“I swear.” Jason flipped Nico over so that their faces were toward each other and their noses touching. “I will be here for you tomorrow. And maybe with time, the day after that and the next.”

Nico smiled sweetly as Jason leaned in and kissed him softly. The hope for a happy future still lived. 


	19. Chapter 19

The seconds seemed to tick by even more slowly whenever he turned his head to glance at the clock. Perhaps it was a trick of the mind or something of the sort but it certainly felt that way to him. Jason felt that it would be better for him to tear away his gaze from the timepiece to do something more productive but he could not help but wonder whether the next few seconds would be when the door would swing open with Nico staggering in with a stack of textbooks towering over him.

After a minute or two of just idling around, Jason sighed and got onto his feet to start clearing up the mess of books and papers that Nico had left behind. He tried to deny it to himself at first but finally, he had to admit that he felt a little disappointed that Nico didn’t seem to remember at all that today was their first-year anniversary. He had been dropping hint after hint like crazy but Nico didn’t seem to pick any of them up. It didn’t help that today was a Sunday and Nico should have had the day off but still went down to the Underworld to finish a project or something.

Still, he couldn’t get mad. How could he? The only reason why he was still breathing was because of the seemingly indomitable spirit of one son of Hades who refused to let him die. Nico was putting his heart and soul into trying to restore him to his former self and he just didn’t have the heart to let all his efforts go to waste. There was simply no way to express how blessed he felt to have Nico by his side, then and now. If he needed a reason to live, Nico was it. 

The look of utter heartbreak that was on Nico’s face when he realised his dark intentions the other day had left quite the impact on his mind and heart. His anguish would forever be etched in his memory like the scars that would never fade from Nico’s skin. Never before had he considered the possibility of anyone showing more grief than he would have at the thought of him taking his own life. He was proven wrong that very moment. 

The thought of the wide open future ahead of him actually seemed a lot more intimidating with each passing day. He was already eighteen, the age when most demigods would leave the safety of camp to go out into the big, bad world. Jason felt a little giddy at the thought of starting a new life with Nico. To start a family together with Nico by his side as his mate. 

An accidental glance at a mirror made him realise that he was grinning away like an idiot. Reyna had offered him an opportunity to finish his schooling in New Rome, an opportunity he was seriously considering. Going out into the world without even a high school diploma would mean that he wouldn’t be able to provide for Nico, an unacceptable option. Nico seemed rather good and ready to finish his studies though, given how hard Hades was pushing him. The god of the Underworld, for how dark and gloomy he was, was quite the hands-on dad. Not that it made Jason like him better. The feeling was probably mutual.

But as much as the future was welcoming him with open arms, the past and the horrors that he had seen, that he had done, still clung onto him possessively. The book that Jason was holding slipped out of his hands and landed softly on the floor.

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Jason growled as pain shot through his head like a bullet. He pressed his hands against his temples, trying to shut out the screams. “Please, stop.” The screams didn’t stop. They just grew louder.

The pills rattled noisily in their bottle as Jason struggled with the cap. It was hard to concentrate with pangs of guilt striking at him again and again. Jason’s forehead was dripping with beads of sweat when he finally managed to pull the cap off. A handful of pills was not enough to silence the screams. Only once the bottle was empty, did the screaming then stop.

“Gods.” Jason slumped into Nico’s study chair. “How long more?”

An opened envelop addressed to Nico laid on the corner of the table, tucked under the lamp. The seal of SPQR and Reyna’s recognisably neat handwriting drew Jason’s attention rather quickly.

There was a letter inside.

_“Dearest Nico,_

_I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to visit you as I promised. I tried to stay around as long as I could when you were hospitalised but I had to return to New Rome when Frank uncovered something. Octavian’s plans were more than just a simple plot. They were a conspiracy. I should have known. The snake had more people loyal to him than I had expected. A lot of people have been saved because of you. From what I could gather from my questioning, Octavian was planning a triumphant return to New Rome. He wanted you and Will dead as revenge for what happened to him. Then, he was supposed to ‘rescue’ me by killing Jason and letting Bryce use me as his new host. I would have welcomed him back to New Rome and stepped down to let him become my successor. What was supposed to happen next, I don’t know because his plans were not yet concrete but Frank was supposed to be involved in an ‘accident’ after that. How extensive all this is, I can’t be sure._

_Enough on that though. How are you? How is Jason? Are things good between you two? I sincerely pray that you are both doing fine. I’ll try to find the time to drop by when I can. Your sister sends you a kiss and a hug. I send you both my regards._

_Your friend and Praetor of New Rome,_

_Reyna.”_

“You know you shouldn’t be reading my mail, right?” 

Jason froze like a dog caught ravaging the Thanksgiving turkey. Nico stood leaning against the unopened door, his arms folded. His face was rather blank and emotionless, making it hard for Jason to know whether he was angry with him or not. Still, he couldn’t risk it.

“I’m sorry.” He raised his eyes to meet Nico’s. “But no harm done, right?”

A sly grin slowly spread across Nico’s face. As Nico started walking toward him, Jason immediately knew that Nico had something in store for him. That lovable cheeky smile was hiding something. Perhaps he had remembered that today was their anniversary? The two boys were face to face, with their noses touching. The werewolf’s breath grew shallow. 

Sometimes Jason could forget how deep and intense Nico’s eyes could be. No matter how many times he stared into them, they were still breathtaking each time. They were an alluring dark brown, like the sweetest chocolate that he had ever tasted. Those tender, irresistible lips seemed to complement them well, tempting Jason to kiss them. Just to savour their sweetness as long as he wanted. He longed for Nico. His heat cycle had gone dormant in Nico’s absence but now, the fire inside him had been rekindled. It had been so long since he had done anything intimate with Nico but he didn’t want to push him. Nico deserved that much. 

Nico stood on his toes to sultrily whisper into Jason’s ears. “Carry me.” 

Jason blinked. “Why?”

“I’m tired. And I have a surprise for you if you do.”

Jason grew a little hard. Whatever Nico was planning, he suspected he was going to enjoy it. “As you wish, your majesty,” he purred. Rather effortlessly, he wrapped his arms around Nico and picked him up, holding him in his arms tightly but gently like a mother does her child. Jason felt a wave of euphoria wash over him when Nico buried his head in his chest and started leaving small kisses through the fabric of his t-shirt.

“Close your eyes. We’re getting out of here.” Nico murmured.

Little lines of consternation formed between Jason’s eyebrows. “Won’t we end up running into the girls’ toilet or something?”

Nico playfully punched Jason’s firm chest that barely felt it. “I’ll be guiding you, dummy. And I’ll shadow-travel us out of the way. Just trust me, okay?”

“Then, why don’t you shadow-travel us to where you want us to go then?”

“I told you. I’m tired. Just shut up and start walking please.”

“I hope you have good insurance,” said Jason, light-heartedly. He did as he was told though, closing his eyes and letting his other senses heighten and take the lead. He heard the familiar creak of the door as it opened and he just started walking straightforward, turning only when Nico told him to. He could hear the other campers rather obviously speaking in whispers about him and Nico, some were squeeing in delight, others not so much. Not that it really mattered anyway, since his attention was fully on Nico’s voice and nothing else. From the sound of crisp leaves crunching under him, Jason knew he was entering the woods and he realised he knew where Nico was taking him.

“Stop. You can put me down here,” Nico ordered.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Not yet,” Nico teased cruelly. Jason felt his boyfriend wriggling out of his grasp and walking a few feet ahead of him. He was also starting to get a little light-headed. Nico was aroused. He could smell his arousal rather clearly. It was frustrating however, not to be able to see Nico’s handsome face. “Just give me a moment.”

“Now?”

“No.”

“How about now?”

Nico didn’t respond. 

Jason finally couldn’t take it. His eyes fluttered open to find himself standing in the cool shade of the tree. The tree where it all started. The tree that had certainly seen much. Jason’s eyes travelled downwards, slowly moving from the rough bark of the trunk to its thick and sturdy roots. And nestled between the two largest roots was a sight that would never fail at taking his breath away. What he had done to be blessed with the most beautiful mate, he would never know.

Nico was desperately struggling not to turn his face away to hide his very prominent blush. Yet, he just laid motionless on the ground before his boyfriend, as naked as the day he was born. Jason was dying to touch him, to feel his lips in contact with Nico’s, to caress his flawless skin, to be in him. The wolf inside him was roaring at him to just get down and start rutting. But still, he had his apprehensions. 

“Nico, why are you doing to this to me?”

“Doing what?”

“This,” said Jason, his voice small and shaky as he fought a battle inside to keep control of himself. “You know what this does to me, right?”

Nico reached his hand up, beckoning Jason to come closer. As Jason did, Nico grabbed his collar and pulled his down roughly onto his knees. “I know. That’s why I want you to do this for us. Please. I want this.”

The final restraint that had been roping Jason back finally broke. His eyes started to glow, taking on a primal, animalistic glint. Nico wanted him. He was going to get him. The pain of shifting felt like nothing to him when Nico started to hungrily kiss him. This was not one of his usual quick pecks on the lip that lasted a heartbeat. This was more akin to a forceful nip at his lips. Jason let the boy beneath him take the lead, allowing him to deepen his kiss, letting his tongue caress his own as Nico’s warm hands slipped under his t-shirt to feel the powerful muscles that laid beneath.

“Your clothes...” Nico whimpered.

Breaking the kiss very reluctantly, Jason swiftly shed his shirt and threw it away. Almost immediately, Jason sucked Nico’s bottom lip into his mouth while the latter’s wandering hands found the little tap that he had been looking for. The tightness of Jason’s pants was starting to grow painful for him, making it even more of a relief when Nico started pulling down the tap and opening his zipper. Jason didn’t even recall kicking aside his pants as they slid down his long legs but when he felt his mate’s deft fingers hooking his fingertips into the waistband of his underwear before pulling it down, he let out a loud but contented growl.

His claws were gently running down Nico’s stomach, enjoying each shiver and moan that he earned for his ministrations. Nico was arching his back, begging shamelessly for his boyfriend’s attention. Jason knew he couldn’t be everywhere at the same time, but he wanted to make sure that Nico remembered all the intimate moments they had together. He had nearly lost him. He had gone without the deep physical, mental and emotional connection Nico and he had when he made love to him. He missed being with him. He missed being whole. The sense of urgency that had seized him was abruptly lost when his fingers grazed the ridge of scars on Nico’s side.

“Jason...” Nico watched sadly as Jason’s lust-filled eyes blinked and filled with immense sorrow and pain. The past was not to be escaped this easily.

Jason inhaled deeply and put on a brave, sad smile. “Sorry. It’s just – just hard to forget.” 

“Then, make today a day I’ll never forget.”

“I will.”

Wetting two fingers with his mouth, Jason started touching Nico’s tight, twitching entrance, preparing Nico for the inevitable pain of knotting. Nico gasped and whimpered when Jason pressed his nose into his crotch and inhaled the heavenly scent of his mate. A small wanting noise escaped Nico as a pair of saliva slicked fingers pushed past the unbelievably tight ring of muscle into his wet and warm heat. So, this was why Nico could be hot-tempered at times, Jason mused to himself. The heat was just unimaginably amazing and inviting, begging him to just fill Nico up with his seed. It was by accident that Jason’s fingers then found the spot that made Nico squirm and mewl.

“Jason! There!”

The werewolf smiled down innocently at his mate. “What, babe?”

“Jason, if you’re not going to touch me there, I swear I’m going to –“

“Going to what?” Jason laughed as he happily watched Nico groan and writhe under him. He was panting hard, his olive skin glistening with a sheen of sweat, his thighs parted just for Jason’s pleasure. Jason could feel his own erection dripping with pre-cum. His wolf was demanding that he just bury himself inside Nico.

_Not yet._

“Please, more!” Nico’s hand found itself tugging at Jason’s hair, twisting itself in his blonde locks. Jason was purring with pleasure when he bent his body to lick at the raised nubs that were Nico’s hardened nipples. At the same time, a third finger slipped into Nico, stretching his entrance out. Nico screamed. He was ready. Jason bit at Nico’s neck, sucking and leaving a dark red mark where the neck joined the shoulder. This was not the bite that had made him into what he was. This was his mating mark. Something to let everyone know, that Nico was his and only his and he was not going to let anyone take Nico from him ever again.

Nico’s eyes were bugged out, the pupils having dilated to the size of saucers. While they were not as defined as Jason’s, his muscles still showed. His olive skin was ready and waiting. Jason didn’t even have to lube up his own cock, his pre-cum did it for him. Nico’s thighs willingly gave way when Jason’s knees pushed them further apart to line up the tapered head of his length with the boy’s trembling but prepared entrance. 

“I love you.”

“I know.” Nico looked right into Jason’s blue eyes. His dark brown eyes showed no fear. They showed longing. “I love you too.”

Jason pushed forward and buried himself deep inside Nico. It was like being squeezed in an oven, a volcano even but Nico’s silky folds were just so wet, warm and welcoming. It was perfect. A wonderful sensation was shooting through all of Jason’s nerves, burning him and adding fuel to the fire already raging inside of him. The sheer pressure of Nico surrounded his cock, making it hard to even think. What he knew was that he would never want to give this up. There was just no better place to be buried up to the hilt in the tight body of the boy he loved. His innate desires were suppressed to stop himself from thrusting and hurting Nico, but the son of Hades was a seasoned lover.

“Please, Jason,” Nico whimpered. “I want your knot. I’m not a virgin. Just give it to me.”

“Hey, now.” Jason was rather happily infuriating Nico with his shit-eating grin but he obeyed. His knot was starting to grow but he still drew his impressive length slowly out of his mate until only the tapered head remained inside of Nico. A furious glare was being shot at him when in one rough and abrupt jerk of his hips; he slammed into Nico, setting an unwavering rhythm with each of his moans and each of Nico’s whimpers. 

His knot put an end to his thrusting as it finally sealed them both together. Nico’s body was a tight fist around him, but no amount of jerking off could compare to the pleasure that was pulsing through Jason’s veins. The hypnotic sound of skin slapping skin filled the air with Jason pulling back to feel his swollen knot tugging at Nico’s entrance. He tried to keep his eyes focused on Nico but it was just too good.

Through some miracle, Nico was somehow tightening around his already thick and swollen to the max cock. How this was possible, Jason didn’t care. He just rocked his hips even harder and faster, trying to please Nico. Each cry and moan that the smaller boy gave just drove him on. He could already feel his balls contracting, ready and wanting. He was trying to hold out, prolong this unearthly pleasure when Nico’s beautiful brown eyes fluttered open and met his. They didn’t even need words to know what the other was feeling.

“Jason!” Nico writhed, moaning and crying out for his mate and protector as pearly white strings of his cum were sent splashing onto the smooth skin of his belly. He was offering himself to Jason. The sight of Nico’s orgasm finally pushed Jason over the edge. Jason roared, his own ecstasy detonating like a cache of dynamite, blowing up every functioning nerve in his brain as he flooded Nico’s insides with his seed.

With the deed done, the two teenagers stilled before coming to a halt. Jason was panting hard with his orgasm still ongoing but he flipped onto his back, so as not to crush Nico under him. Lightning blue reflected love and desire at dark brown and for several minutes that felt like an eternity to them both, the troubles of the world fell apart to give way to one that was built solely on the connection of love and passion between the two of them. 

“That was...” Nico stammered.

Jason chortled softly as he wiped away the sweat trickling down Nico’s forehead. He playfully scooped up Nico's cum with his index finger and started sucking on it as if it were the most delectable nectar, which to him, it was. “Amazing.”

“It’s just been so long...”

“I know.” Jason quickly captured Nico’s lips in a hard kiss, wrapping his muscular arms around his neck. His lips didn’t stop there though, continuing their journey down the trail of Nico’s neck, ending only at his mating mark. “Thank you.”

Nico sighed before remembering what he needed to say. “Jason, I’ve something to tell you.”

The werewolf’s ears perked up out of curiosity as Nico leaned in to whisper something into his ear. No one saw them that evening. No one saw Jason looking at Nico with wide-opened, surprised eyes. No one saw those same eyes dancing with joy as Jason pulled Nico close to him in a tight and loving hug. No one saw Nico smiling sweetly as he fell asleep on Jason's chest, with the werewolf watching over him and planting soft kisses onto his hair. The past may not let him go that easily, but with this new revelation, he knew had a future to look forward to. A future with Nico.


	20. Chapter 20

_Seven Years Later_

Jason did not notice that he was biting down too hard on his lip until the coppery taste of his own blood alerted him to his mistake. Not that it really mattered though. A wound this harmless and insignificant would just heal in a matter of seconds. His lip did give an obvious twitch though. Not out of pain but out of a growing sense of dread. He had already warned Nico that this would happen. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder whether he had made the right call.

Nico’s long black locks were matted with a thin layer of sweat against his glistening forehead. His eyes were squeezed shut and his teeth clenched tightly as he struggled against the unbearable pain. He had not uttered a word for the past two days, other than the occasional groan and curse. Careful not to startle his mate, Jason gently placed his powerful but nervous hand against Nico’s forehead. His skin was hot, searing. Nico was burning up with a raging fever. In normal circumstances, Jason would have been rushing off Nico to the nearest hospital and Nico himself would have suffered untold brain damage. This situation was far from normal though.

The bed creaked a little as Nico threw the quilt onto the floor before turning onto his side. Jason knew that the pain that Nico was feeling was approaching ‘just-kill-me’ levels. He had gone through it before and he had wanted to die right then. If there had been another way for Nico other than this route of agony, Jason would have willingly sacrificed an arm and a leg for him. But there was just no alternative. The wounds on Nico’s neck were mostly concealed to the unobservant eye, but Jason couldn’t help but looking on at his bite mark. It was his first and would be the only cursed bite of his life. Nico was becoming a werewolf.

The water in the bowl sloshed around a little when Jason took the cloth in it and gave it a twist. His hands quivered a little when he laid down the cloth on Nico’s forehead before wiping it across face. Nico weakly mumbled his thanks. His usually gorgeous lips were dry to the bone and cracking. When Nico had told him that he wanted to become a werewolf, Jason was shocked, dumbfounded in fact. The implications of Nico becoming a werewolf were massive. Massive was an understatement. Life-changing was more like it. Jason had always fantasised Nico being pregnant with his pups, but that had always been an afterthought made in the realm of imagination. In a matter of hours, that whimsical daydream stood a chance of becoming reality.

Nico’s eyes inched open to meet Jason’s. Jason was slightly startled when he noticed that Nico’s deep, dark brown eyes had taken on a shimmering glow with the slightest hint of ochre. Despite the pained look written all over his face, Nico still somehow managed a small, wry grimace. He was the sort of person to give pain the bird. Smiling broadly, Jason leaned in to tenderly nuzzle his nose with Nico’s. Their clumsy show of affection had kind of grown on them through the years. Kisses were still very much preferred, but this had more of a personal touch to it. Jason whined a little when he felt Nico running his fingers through his hair. The circle of gold around Nico’s ring finger glimmered in the dim lighting of the room.

Jason had been practically wriggling with excitement when he waited for Nico at Leo’s place that night. Percy thought he was having a mood swing, Leo thought he was losing his mind. Calypso suspected but she didn’t say a word to blow his secret. Nico arrived an hour late; exhausted after having been held up by the airport security in Heathrow. Leo and Percy were hammered after finishing a beer or two (Or three or four or five. Percy could really drink like a fish.)but Jason forced himself to stay sober to ask Nico out for a walk. They were strolling slowly along the boardwalk, hand-in-hand, just admiring the view of the mighty Atlantic and the stars that shined down on them from above. They talked for a bit, Nico complaining about his snooty lecturers and draining assignments.

Jason still remembered the look on Nico’s face when he got on his knee. The sheer shock upon realising what was really happening when he reached for the ring box in his pocket. The sudden surge of anxiety when Jason finally blabbered out what he had wanted to say for years. The nail-biting silence and the terrifying thought of Nico rejecting him. And the pure joy and sigh of relief when Nico leapt into his arms and kissed him hard on the lips.

That was the happiest moment of Jason’s life.

Nico’s grip around his wrist was growing a little too tight for comfort as Nico’s claws began to emerge and his teeth sharpened into fangs. The soon-to-be werewolf was writhing around in agony, hot tears of pain travelling welling in his eyes as he sobbed pitifully. The pain felt like a monster clawing its way out of him. Jason wished to the gods he could help him, take the pain away but this was a road Nico had to travel alone. Still, Jason leaned down and kissed his husband on the cheek soothingly to comfort him. Nico squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.

Jason was thankful that Calypso had offered them the use of her island and old prison as their honeymoon getaway because Nico started screaming in his last few moments as an ordinary demigod. Had they gone elsewhere, Nico’s screams would have had a SWAT team breaking down their door. Nico’s lean muscles were tensing up, his eyes taking on a feral, wolfish glint and his fangs piercing painfully through his gums. He was convulsing, writhing as the wolf inside him started to take hold. And then, he fell still.

Jason climbed into the bed and gently pulled Nico into his arms. He let Nico take comfort in the warmth of his body, whispering sweet nothings to him while wiping away the last few tears that trickled down Nico’s cheeks.

“Is it over?” Nico’s voice was shaky, close to a whisper. “Is it safe?”

“It’s over. It’s safe,” mumbled Jason. He nuzzled Nico’s neck lovingly before pressing his lips against his mating mark. A reminder of so many sweet, cherished moments.“How do you feel?”

Nico groaned.

“Shitty. That was awful.”

“I mean, how do you feel now?”

The son of Hades raised his hands in front of his eyes. His eyes bugged out a little when he noticed his short nails had been replaced with powerful claws. He gave them a quick wriggle.

“So, how do you feel?” asked Jason again.

“It feels...weird. I don’t really know how to say it.”

“I know the feeling. Like you are something more than just a demigod now.”

“Something like that.” He rested his head on Jason’s broad, firm chest. Jason’s heartbeat always did sound like a steady drum, calming and comforting. His eyes glanced up to meet Jason’s, a mischievous glint in both of them. “So, how do I look?”

  
Jason didn't answer but just stared.

Gods. Nico smelt so fucking good. His scent still had a deathly sweetness to it but tonight, there was something more to it. Something powerful, raw and animalistic. Nico was looking up at him and saying something but Jason heard nothing. He just stared at his lips. Those gorgeous, kissable lips. Even as the pain of shifting washed over him, Jason never once lifted his eyes off them. He didn’t even recall when he had started panting but he didn’t give a damn about it.

Nico couldn’t see the longing that flooded his mind. Desire to pin Nico under him, perfectly fitting into his mate’s leaner body like two interlocking puzzle pieces, Nico moaning and his back arching as he thrusted into him again and again. The wolf inside Jason was snapping at the chains that held it. He wasn’t supposed to be in heat until the following week. He didn’t understand but he didn’t care. All he wanted to be right then was on top of Nico, thrusting into him and knotting him.

This new scent of Nico’s, it was choking him, intoxicating him. It was near impossible for a werewolf to be drunk on alcohol but here he was, delirious and horny as hell. Jason wanted to smell this scent twenty-four seven. It was just so fucking addictive. He was drowning on dry land – the scent blocking out the oxygen in his lungs. Jason saw the slight tinge of fear in his mate’s eyes as he started to edge forward. Then, Nico’s pupils slowly dilated, his own breath growing heavier as it began to dawn on him what Jason wanted. At first, he looked somewhat hesitant but eventually, a sole finger beckoned Jason forward. His mate needed him, desired him. Baring his fangs, Jason lunged.

* * *

 

  
Jason’s chiselled chest seemed to glow in the flickering light of their bedside candles, glistening with the sheen of sweat that coated him as he continued making love to Nico. The younger werewolf was whimpering in a combination of pain and pleasure as his mate buried himself inside him again and again. Nico knew that Jason always enjoyed making love to him, and he himself liked it too. Tonight though, Jason seemed to be…different, more like a man (or a wolf) on a mission than just a horndog.

“Jason!” gasped Nico.

Jason bared his incisors in a suspiciously cheerful grin, like one does after hearing a dirty joke. “Say my name, pup! Say it!”

“Jason!” Nico cried out again as Jason slammed his hips into him, harder, striking that special bundle of nerves inside him that just made him melt into putty.

Sex with a werewolf was awesome. Sex with a werewolf as a werewolf was godly. Nico’s senses were heightened in every conceivable way. He took in a deep breath. Jason certainly smelt fresh, like a cross between mountain air and a fresh mint, as weird as it sounded. Nico finally understood what Jason meant when he said that he smelt ‘healthy’.

Jason was tugging away at his ear with his teeth, causing him to snarl involuntarily. He didn’t really get it. Jason wasn’t supposed to be in heat until next week and here he was, fucking him into the sheets like a mad dog. And at the same time, something inside Nico’s own head was prodding at him to get onto his knees and let Jason mount him. Nico wasn’t really a fan of doggy-style. It felt quite demeaning to him. And what the heck was that slick oozing out of him when Jason ripped off his underwear? And why didn’t his own dick have a knot like Jason’s? He didn’t get it. It certainly didn’t help that Jason didn’t exactly come ready with an instructions manual on how werewolves work. And Jason was somewhat too busy thrusting into him to discuss his questions.

Nico flinched a little when Jason started growling at him. From under him, Jason looked unnaturally massive, intimidating like the werewolf he was. It was quite the view though, being able to see and caress Jason’s muscular abdomen. Nico found it to be rather odd, given how normally he was the one holding Jason by his ear during their arguments. Nico had to smile at the thought of the future. A life together with Jason and with some kids running around. His kids. Something he had been looking forward to since that one quiet evening in the woods.

He shivered when Jason suddenly leaned in and buried his head in the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply as if swallowing his scent. A long, wet tongue ran up the length of Nico’s throat. He could feel Jason smirking into his skin.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured.

“You don’t look so bad either,” Nico groaned, tilting his head back.

Jason chuckled as he continued to lick and nip at his throat, tasting sweat and Nico and clearly enjoying himself. He fluttered his eyelids at Nico. “Aww. I thought I’m supposed to be cute and cuddly.”

Nico half-snorted, half-laughed at Jason’s puppy-like eyes. Strange, he thought to himself, how Jason was happily fucking him but still, he could make small talk. He wouldn’t be all that surprised if Jason could cook him breakfast while casually fucking him on their kitchen counter. Jason did look innocently cute though, even for a mighty werewolf, prompting Nico to stroke his thumb gently across Jason’s firm cheekbone. Once again, Jason started ‘purring’ and shuddering at the touch of his mate. Strong as a wolf, gentle as a kitten.

Inhaling sharply, Nico raised his head to brush his lips against Jason’s. Sweet, soft, silky. Jason was a gift from the gods, Nico convinced himself. No one would have created this image of beauty without being immediately jealous. A sexy Adonis, all tall, muscular, hunky and nothing less. With his perfect blue eyes, so rich and warm, steely but kind.

Nico still remembered his moment of hesitance during their wedding vows, when he stood in front of Jason before his friends, his father and Jupiter himself. He had gone through so many rehearsals with Hazel in preparation for the big day and he considered himself ready for anything when he walked down the aisle. But the moment he looked up into Jason’s eyes, just as he was about to say his lines, everything went blank. The only thing running through his head was, “Gods, is this really happening? I’m actually going to get what I want and the Fates will let me?” He didn’t get the time to answer his own questions. Jason lifted him off the floor, held him in his arms and just kissed him slowly, but lovingly. At first, he stiffened but then, this was what he had really wanted for so long and what more was to be done other than to let go and enjoy the moment?

“Hold on,” Jason murmured. Nico felt him gripping his waist and pulling his cock out of him with an obscene squelch. He whimpered in protest but at the same time, he was baffled. Why hadn’t Jason knotted him yet?

“What are you doing?”

Jason said nothing, instead lifting his mate up and placing him on his hands and knees. “I need to do this. We are animals after all,” he rumbled deeply as he started to plant kisses on the back of Nico’s neck.

Almost instinctively, Nico’s arms collapsed as did his front half. Something in his head was telling him that this was the right thing to do, giving in to his dominant mate. Something inside him was driving him on, appealing to his feral, primal side. Nico felt the dampness of the sheets when he rested his cheek against the bed and reached behind himself. He knew his hands were trembling but he knew it was more of excited anticipation than of fear. He heard Jason’s breath growing shallow as he pulled his ass cheeks apart, exposing himself again. The mystery liquid was still oozing out of him, wet and slippery like lube.

Nico shuddered when he felt the wet and slick tapered end of Jason’s cock rubbing against his entrance. “So sexy, so wet, so tight,” Jason grunted before sliding right up inside of him again. Nico gasped. The feeling of being filled with a long, thick werewolf cock was one that Nico could never adequately find the words to describe. And the best thing was, it didn’t hurt at all. Not a hint of pain, just pure, beautiful pleasure. Nico knew how much Jason liked it when he clenched his muscles around him and sure enough, Jason let out a guttural growl of gratitude.

“Mine.” Jason planted a kiss on his mating mark, so softly and tenderly that it sent shivers down Nico’s spine.

“Yours.” Nico knew he had finally found his place in this universe, in the arms of the one he loved, and the one who loved him. They were each other’s world, there was nothing if there was no Jason. As he let Jason make love to him, he was content in the knowledge that he had an entire life to make the best out of with Jason by his side.

Nico squeezed his eyes shut as Jason sped up his shallow thrusts into him. He could finally feel Jason’s knot growing inside him, preventing him from pulling out entirely. Gods. Every time Jason pulled his hips back and his knot pressed against his rim, Nico just wanted it to go on forever and never end. This pleasure, nothing on earth, on Olympus or even in Tartarus could compare to it. He could only let out a choked sob as Jason grinded their hips together.

Something inside him awakened. Nico felt a wave of heat passing through his body. An itch and a sting on his skin made him squirm a little. A raging inferno consumed his bones as they started to change. His eyes flew open.

Two paws were on both sides of his head, covered with a thick coat of a golden blonde fur. He was about to look up when he felt Jason burying his muzzle in his fur and drinking him in. His fur? Nico looked down at what used to be his hands. A pair of pitch black paws met his eyes. What the fuck?

“Don’t panic. Just relax,” Jason somehow spoke comfortingly in his head.

“But –“

“Shh…” cooed Jason.

Nico gave in. He knew he was right where he needed to be. The night and the world was beautiful and perfect and none of it mattered because of the fact that he was a wolf pinned in the cage of Jason’s legs. He snarled as Jason drove in once more and locked their bodies together.

“You look so beautiful.” Jason purred as he rocked his hips, slowly and torturously, pressing his thick knot ever deeper into his mate.

Nico licked his dry muzzle, somewhat baffled by this sudden change of body (and species) but at the same time, thoroughly enjoying each and every thrust of Jason’s. “I can’t even see you. What is going on?”

“Shh…Just relax. You’ll love this.”

Nico snapped with pleasure as Jason began to thrust earnestly and desperately, his hips snapping back and forth with an incredible tightness and unbelievable speed that nearly drove them both mad. Nico was panting hard and found himself being thrown onto the bed whenever Jason slammed into him. His body was as tight as a fist, hotter than a furnace and Nico knew that Jason loved him for it The underside of Jason’s muzzle pressed to his spine and he winced when he felt Jason’s knot swelling up as his orgasm approached.

“Jason, please!” Nico arched his back, exposing the skin of his neck to his mate. Precum was dripping from his own swollen cock onto the sheets. He was so close, he just needed a little more coaxing, just a little more.

“Nico!” Jason’s one thought word pinned him through heart and groin and Nico roared when he came, snarling into the cold night with his seed staining the sheets as heavy white droplets. Jason’s jaws clenched down on his mating mark as he thrusted his seed deep into the body of his mate. Letting go, he let out a bestial howl while snapping his body into an arch. Nico whimpered when he felt Jason filling him up with his hot, thick seed. There was just so much of it, only the gods knew how much cum Jason could pump into him.

The two werewolves, blonde and black, collapsed onto their side. Both were panting hard, as if they just came out of a marathon and in some way, they did. Nico felt Jason’s thick layer of fur covering his back as he gently laid next to Nico, careful not to hurt him or pull out the knot unintentionally.

“Jason.” Nico was stammering uncontrollably, the spasming aftershocks making it hard to talk. “What the hell just happened?”

“Your first transformation. You look beautiful as a wolf, do you know that?” Jason rubbed down against Nico’s fur until he could rest his head on the black wolf’s back. “Want to know anything else?”

“No.”

Jason sighed and stayed quiet for a while, catching his breath. “So, about our pups.”

Nico felt his side with his paws. His belly was swollen, filled with Jason’s cum as usual with Jason still pumping into him. It felt different tonight though, as if some of the cum had disappeared somewhere. Jason joined in, patting his mate’s full tummy tenderly. Something told Nico that already, new life was forming inside him. “What about them?”

Jason mentally smiled. “How many do you think we’ll have?”

“I don’t know. Maybe three or four? I’d love three.”

“Three’s always good, but I won’t mind having four or five.”

Nico snorted.

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one going around pregnant with them.”

“Right.” Jason nuzzled his neck before nibbling playfully at Nico’s ears. “And they shall call me Dad and they shall call you Papa.”

“I wanted to be called Dad.”

“Fine, fine, be that way.” Jason laughed. “But either way, you’ll be a good Papa.”

“Dad.”

“Sorry. But you get what I mean, right?”

Nico took Jason’s paw and placed it above his beating heart. If they were still in their human form, Jason would have seen Nico smiling sweetly and innocently. Jason could visualise it in any case though. It had been long imprinted in his memories and thoughts.

“The same goes for you. You’ll be a pretty awesome Papa.”

“Sweet. And now, excuse me as I shall now take the opportunity to name our firstborn son…”

“Gabriel.”

“I was about to say Ezio actually.”

“…I’ll kill you.”


	21. Epilogue

_Seven Months Later_

Sleep was beckoning Jason invitingly but his eyes refused to close. It was still dark. The sun wouldn't be up for about a couple more hours. For a brief moment, Nico stirred from his deep slumber. Jason froze, he had been running his fingers through Nico's hair. It was not at all his intention to awaken his mate. Murmuring incoherently, Nico turned on his side, laid his head on Jason's chest and continued snoozing. Jason breathed a sigh of relief.

Almost naturally, he leaned down and kissed the top of Nico’s head. Nico’s scent was always a delicious delight to him. It was just a subtle change but Jason noticed it. A slight smile slowly turned up the side of Nico’s mouth. He looked happy, contented. If Nico was happy, Jason was happy. Nico was always beautiful, and that would never change, but whenever he smiled, Jason felt like melting into a puddle. It didn’t help matters that Jason had seen Nico in his darkest moments, cradling the shattered pieces of his mind and heart and unwilling to share his troubles with anyone. That boy was gone now, replaced by a man that Jason loved and lived for.

Careful not to awaken Nico, he carefully ran his fingers over Nico’s swollen belly. He still couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t easy to, but whenever he pressed his ears against Nico’s stomach to hear a trio of little fluttering heartbeats, Jason felt like he was soaring into the clouds once more. Every passing day was a day closer to being able to cradle his and Nico’s pups in his arms.

On the outside, Nico seemed to be a lot more reserved than him about it, but he was terrible at hiding his excitement in his voice when discussing his pups’ names with Hazel. Not to mention, Nico must have been pretty eager to share the good news with Hades, given how that one time Jason returned home from work to find the god of the Underworld at his dining table quietly enjoying a bowl of minestrone. On his side, Thalia was more than happy to become an aunt and possibly, a godmother (or demigodmother).

Nico shifted his body a little. Jason was mildly surprised when he suddenly found himself in a tight hug. Nico was still fast asleep but he clung on tightly to his husband like a baby does its bolster. Not that Jason didn’t like it or wanted to complain though. His warm breaths tickled his skin. Jason just laid there, looking up at the ceiling, feeling his heart oddly beating in synchrony with Nico’s. His heartbeat was somewhat louder and deeper, thundering in his chest. Boom. Boom. Boom. Nico’s was softer and more rhythmic. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Leo could laugh him off as being overly cheesy, but he believed and knew that he was telling the truth to himself and everyone else whenever he said Nico was his life. He had no regrets making his decision to take Nico as his mate and life partner, and he hoped that Nico felt the same way too. Life as a demigod was far from easy. It could be pretty shitty in fact. There were the monsters that were always out for his blood, there was the occasional apocalyptic scenario, sometimes caused by horrifying abominations that only Tartarus could have conceived. It didn’t really help matters that he was also technically a monster and had done horrifying things himself. Jason’s train of thought braked to a halt. He would have to live with the fact that his hands had been stained with innocent blood. It may not have been his decision or will, but still, he had done it.

Despite all this though, he could never shake off wondering whether the Fates had been feeling merciful when they tied his and Nico’s threads together. In his greatest moment of need, Nico had gone through hell and back to get him back and had done everything in his power to piece him back together, piece by piece. Even now, he was helping him to clear his conscience by tracking down those who had died at Bryce’s hands to give them the proper rites and help them to move on to the afterlife. Jason knew that there would come a time where he and Nico would have to part ways for a time. Life on earth was short. But until then, he would live the life that he now had, one that was filled with so much joy because of Nico. He could only be grateful for how blessed he was for all the wonders, both small and big, subtle and obvious, that Nico had brought into his life.

Hero or not, Jason was aware that he still had his many failings and he would continue to have them no matter how much he tried to fix them, but Nico accepted him for what he was and Jason would do the same for him. This was the best that life could offer him and nothing could really replace Nico. Where Nico went, he would go. There was no question about that.

The need for sleep finally overwhelming him, Jason decided to call it a night. His eyes sliding shut, he still managed to plant one last, lingering kiss on Nico’s lips.

“I love you,” he whispered quietly. He closed his eyes, letting the peaceful darkness take him away.

Nico smiled.

“I know. I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, suggestions and kudos are always warmly welcomed.
> 
> If you like the work, don't be afraid of clicking on the 'kudos' button. Cheers, mate! :D


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